Press regulator IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation) have rejected complaints from Tory MP Jonathan Djanogly and his wife Rebecca Silk over reports the pair treated a housekeeper “worse than a slave“. The reports, published in the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday Telegraph, contained similar allegations from other housekeepers who’d tidied up after Djanogly over the years. Djanogly and Silk claimed the coverage was unfair, because an employment tribunal “did not find the two claimants to be mistreated, let alone be slaves“, and it was inappropriate to air their dirty laundry in public. The pair insisted they’re squeaky clean…
IPSO binned the complaints anyway, ruling the “slave” allegations were “clearly distinguished” as subjective labels, rather than statements of objective fact. The dust-up has been dismissed entirely, with IPSO adding
“The Editors’ Code of Practice does not address issues of bias, nor omission. It makes clear the press has the right to report one side of events, as long as it takes care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, and to distinguish between comment, conjecture and fact.”
No doubt Djanogly will hope to sweep this under the rug…
Jonathan Djanogly will stand down at the next election, having failed in his bid to win the support of his local association. As expected, it was a close run contest. Jonathan lost by 21 votes…
In a statement, he said:
“It has been a great privilege to serve the residents of the Huntingdon Constituency as their Member of Parliament over the last twenty-two years and, together, we have achieved a significant amount. I am grateful to the tens of thousands of voters who have consistently put their faith in me at the ballot box. Of course, until the next election, I will continue to represent Huntingdon proudly as I have done to the best of my ability for the past two decades.”
The relatively plush Tory seat of Huntingdon is now up for grabs…
Jonathan Djanogly’s reselection battle is underway in Huntingdon – a rare seat safe for Tories on current polls – as ballots were sent out today. Members will have two weeks to vote until the result is announced on April 20th. After losing the vote for automatic reselection, Djanogly does face some local opposition – local Tory and former Downing Street SpAd, Simon Burton, is seen as one alternative. Guido asked Simon if he intends to vote for Jonathan and then if he might later stand for selection. Simon declined to comment.
Jonathan’s previous reselections have been closely fought and with new boundaries less supportive of the MP, it’s set to be a tight contest. No doubt unrelated to a recent uptick in his social media presence…
Jonathan Djanogly was unsuccessful in securing automatic re-selection for his seat of Huntingdon – as reported by Michael Crick. Guido hears he lost the vote, held on Saturday, by a margin of 12-9. Huntingdon has been affected by boundary changes, and there is a perception that new intake areas may have influenced opinion against the MP. Djanogly’s office insist the MP will appeal the decision to the membership – adding that after 22 years serving the constituency, he had no alternative other than to keep fighting. The membership contest is by no means a forgone conclusion though even on current polls, the seat is winnable. No wonder Jonathan is so keen to keep it…
Whilst Huntingdon MP Jonathan Djanogly voted Remain in 2016 and against a WTO Brexit in April 2019, he was elected on a mandate to ‘Get Brexit Done’ a year ago. Guido was surprised, therefore, to see he has given a parliamentary pass to a pro-Remain lobbyist from the Best for Britain campaign group, founded by Gina Miller. Djanogly lists his top member of staff as Daniel Paterson, currently a PR man for Best for Britain, which he describes as “a civil society campaign to keep the door open to EU membership.”
Paterson is a former European Parliamentary staffer in Brussels, current executive member of the Conservative Group for Europe, and managed Dominic Grieve’s failed independent campaign in the 2019 General Election. Curiously, he does not list working for Djanogly or in Parliament on his LinkedIn page, and instead works in what his company describes as “the heart of Brussels” for EU public affairs and business consultancy practice Ridens.
It is no longer standard practice for dodgy public affairs practitioners to get hold of parliamentary passes. In the UK, the Public Relations and Communications Association has stated “it is simply wrong for a lobbyist to hold a Parliamentary pass”, prohibiting it in their code of conduct. MPs are not allowed to give passes to commercial operators or receive any payments. Why exactly has Djanogly handed Paterson a pass, when he’s based in Brussels and doesn’t even list currently working in the House of Commons on his resume?
