Some rising stars don’t burn as bright as others. New MP Hamish Falconer, who was immediately promoted to Foreign Office Minister and happens to be the son of New Labour heavyweight Lord Falconer, had his morning round debut this morning. It was one to forget…
On GB News Falconer failed to tackle an onslaught from Isabel Webster who skewered the government for the complete chaos inside Downing Street, giving away the Chagos Islands, and its non-existent mandate to hand inflation-busting pay rises to train drivers while withdrawing free cash from pensioners. Young Hamish had nothing to say part from that it’s all been a “success”…
Falconer has had glowing profiles from the Lobby recently including an eyebrow-raising Tatler deep dive. The Guardian fawned:
“Conscious of his privilege, he says that his advantageous start in life means that he has to ‘go further to demonstrate that I do understand the vast majority of families in Lincoln who are really struggling.'”
He certainly went somewhere this morning. Isabel finished:
“I would suggest that one of the first jobs that Morgan McSweeney does is choose a better candidate for the morning round because that was excruciating and I’ve interviewed a lot of politicians.”
There’s always next time…
If there’s at least one thing Starmer can learn from Liz Truss, it’s to never underestimate the regional media round. This morning on BBC Radio Lincolnshire, the Labour leader claimed that Labour’s parliamentary candidate Hamish Falconer had secured a £300 million investment for the redevelopment of RAF Scampton, intended for the construction of homes, restaurants, and bars. Starmer claimed Falconer had “negotiated” the private investment himself. In reality, the £300 million was actually secured by the then Conservative-led West Lindsey District Council…
He was quickly rebuffed by the presenter:
“Hang on, no he hasn’t. No, let’s correct that straightaway. The £300 million was already on the table. It was actually secured by the then Conservative West Lindsey District Council, they came to that arrangement that was announced months ago. So it’s not your candidate that secure that.”
The man who wants to ‘restore trust in politics’…
