CCHQ is stepping up its election readiness, as Conservative candidate selections opened up in 19 constituencies yesterday. Writing in Conservative Home, Greg Hands expressed his intent to ensure candidates are in place “as early as possible”. He added that CCHQ has conducted a “root and branch review” of selection processes, including digitalisation and “enhanced due diligence checks”. CCHQ can rest easy knowing Guido will be on hand to verify these checks…
Greg then confirmed that selections had began in a first batch of seats, “with all regions represented”, and that local party associations would be able to “follow the selection process in full”. The first 19 seats open to selection are:
- Bicester and Woodstock
- Calder Valley
- Camborne and Redruth
- Canterbury
- Coventry South
- Earley and Woodley
- Eltham and Chislehurst
- Hazel Grove
- Hove and Portslade
- Isle of Wight East
- Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
- Milton Keynes South
- Norwich North
- Selby
- South Cambridgeshire
- South West Devon
- Tamworth
- West Bromwich
- West Lancashire
Amongst those listed are some new seats, some held by the opposition, and others vacated by standing down MPs – including George Eustice, Nigel Adams and Chloe Smith. Guido also notes that Chris Pincher’s Tamworth is probably due a new candidate…
The latest update to MPs Expenses – covering October and November of 2022 – were published yesterday and Guido has been trawling through the data to keep co-conspirators informed of the excesses of our elected representatives.
Despite facing a conviction for harassment and government-toppling sexual misconduct allegations, Claudia Webbe and Chris Pincher are still doing alright for themselves. Both get their costly phone bills funded by the taxpayer, for Pincher, this amounts to £66 a month, whilst Webbe claims a stonking £117 every month. It doesn’t take a genius to deduce why they’re forking out so much – Claudia previously displayed her high-end iPhone during a Commons faux-pas. To put their extravagance into context, spend-thrift Jeremy Corbyn, who also expenses his phone bill, claims £6 a fortnight.
It wouldn’t be an expenses update without luxury tech purchases. Ranil Jayawardena spent £1,998 on a mobile phone. That’s more than the cost of an iPhone 14 Pro Max with maximum specification. Does he understand that to cut taxes we have to cut spending? Former Apple computer salesman Fabian Hamilton has further indulged his Apple exuberance. After Guido previously revealed he’d spent £3,177 on an iPad, iPad Mini, MacBook Air and another MacBook Air 13.3 inch, he’s now added a new iPhone 14 Pro Max to the list – at a cost of £1,307. If that wasn’t enough, Fabian also expensed four separate phone bill payments over October and November – to the tune of £363. He’s giving Angela a run for her money…
Guido spends £12.50 a month on his phone with unlimited texts, calls and data plus international roaming. There should be some kind of cap on what MPs can claim. If they want Kim Kardashian style blingy devices let them pay the difference.
MPs have also been expensing cushy foreign trips, some of the top destinations this winter were Iceland, Rome and Berlin, and they haven’t exactly been frugal with their hotel stays. Amongst their accommodation expenses were the luxury Palazzo Cardinal Cesi, expensed by Eddie Hughes, and the Boutique Arthaus Hotel, frequented by Martin Docherty-Hughes. Perhaps the most egregious travel expenses came from SNP MP Phillipa Whitford. In addition to £550 in hotel expenses, the MP spent a stonking £1,405 on one flight to Berlin…
Not content with enjoying her taxpayer-funded jolly, Phillipa took to Twitter to complain – obviously about Brexit.
In the long ‘All Passports’ queue at #Berlin airport while Hans waltzes through electronic passport gates - sigh! #BrexitBenefit!
— Dr Philippa Whitford (@Dr_PhilippaW) October 14, 2022
A little gratitude wouldn’t go amiss…
Co-conspirators can search for the expenses of their MP here
Charlotte Nichols, 2019 intake Labour MP for Warrington North, has been making ripples in the press since last November, when she told 5 Live that there is a “whisper network list of the people [in Westminster] to avoid”. In December The Sun on Sunday reported there was a new Pestminster list of MPs circulating, with a Tory MP telling the paper this one – unlike the 2017 spreadsheet – contains individuals from “across all the political parties.” The race was on to find a copy…
Then on January 1st, Nichols found herself once again at the centre of controversy after sharing a sexual harassment list of 20 MPs to a WhatsApp group used by fellow 2019 intake MPs. The Mail on Sunday got the scoop, reporting that Nichols told them she’d shared it to the group by mistake and had since deleted the post, though she “stood by every name”. A senior Labour figure told the paper, “If you believe you have evidence that X, Y or Z is a wrong ‘un, then fair enough. But you can’t just put names out like this.”
Perhaps the senior Labour figure is so concerned by Nichols because unlike the infamous 2017 Pestminster list, this new one of 20 MPs is made up of 40% Labour members.
Guido’s been passed the list, and can confirm the breakdown is 11 Tories, 8 Labour and a single senior SNP frontbencher. While no specific allegations against any of the names are made by Nichols, Chris Pincher is among the names, as is Chris Matheson who recently resigned as the MP for Chester for “unwanted sexual advances” towards a junior member of staff. Six of the names on Nichols’ list were on the 2017 list, all of whom are Tories.
Guido’s source also revealed that a Lobby political editor is known to be making inquiries into one senior Labour MP named on Nichols’ list, regarding sexual misconduct. Guido’s only surprise is that her list doesn’t contain some more infamous names…
UPDATE: Guido has now spoken to 2 of the MPs named by Charlotte Nichols, they didn’t know they were on her list and expressed off the record bemusement.
Last year it was reported that Boris smuggled £27,000 in high-end Daylesford Organic takeaways into Downing Street, funded by business woman Baroness Bamford. Boris has clearly made the most of this relationship, as new publications of members’ interests reveal he’s also got a free stay, worth £10,000, out of it in the month after he, Carrie and the two young ones left No. 10. Keep red wine away from the sofa…
With the £24,000 Lady Bamford gave towards Boris’s boisterous wedding bash in August, it brings the sum to £61,000.
The Bamfords’ donations don’t stop there. Guido notes new leadership donation declarations from Liz Truss show JCB – whose chairman is Lady Bamford’s husband – gave £8,825 to her campaign. Other newly declared donors also include £16,500 from Big Bang Films, £50,000 from Graham Edwards and £5000 from Nigel Vinson. Rishi too found another £25,000 down the back of the sofa – £5000 from Henry Davis and £20,000 from Manhad Narula.
Meanwhile Chris Pincher – remember him? – registered £400 from The Critic, where he ironically used to write wine reviews, before quaffing “far too much of the stuff” at the Carlton Club.
The latest register of interests also sees Sir Keir Starmer registering a £350 donation of band merchandise, including original artwork, from the group Orange Juice after seeing them at the Roundhouse in Camden this summer. Their song, “What Presence?!”, is often what focus groups say about the Labour leader…
Sky News’ Dan Whitehead has just confronted the disgraced and almost unrecognisable Chris Pincher on camera for the first time since his resignation as Deputy Chief Whip last month. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t have much to say. All very awkward. Guido suspects Pincher’s best approach if he wishes to maintain this silence would be to resign his seat…
Number 10’s spin operation today after the McDonald letter has, unsurprisingly, gone down like a cup of cold sick with the Tory benches, including amongst Boris loyalists. Guido’s spoken to several MPs following the lobby briefing and Michael Ellis’s Urgent Question response, and they all agreed it was a “disaster“. One said it was “the last days of Rome”…
ITV’s Paul Brand reports that rebels are now sending in fresh letters to the ’22, even though Boris is immune from challenge until next year without a rule change. Guido’s heard the same – the mood is so “downbeat” that even “despairing” loyalists are tipping over the edge, with one Red Waller describing the situation as “an absolute sh*tshow”. Although as usual, only Graham Brady knows if that’s feeding through to his in-tray…
There were also raised eyebrows – and that’s putting it mildly – over No.10’s decision to allow cameras in to the Cabinet meeting this morning. “Who the f*ck thought [that] was a good idea” said one MP to Guido…
Where, one might ask, is the counter-attack? What is Downing Street doing to get on the front foot? What is CCHQ doing? MPs who are hardcore supporters of the Prime Minister are fed up. Trying to push the “biggest tax cut” talking point today won’t work to set the agenda when you put up the same taxes only a few months ago. If the government wants to shift the media’s focus on to the economy, what will they do that Starmer won’t? Tory MPs want a sense of purpose and direction, rather than constantly ricocheting at the hands of the media from one minor negative process story to another, that the general public doesn’t really care about…
