Not content with sticking to gutter politics, Labour have now sunk further into the sewer. Clearly with local elections in mind, the party has taken to stepping up their attack ads, now targeting the Conservative party’s record on sewage. They’re promoting – ie. paying for – targeted local advertising on Facebook and Instagram attacking Tory MPs, many of whom aren’t even in government. Johnny Mercer, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Lee Anderson and Graham Brady were amongst those singled-out. By Guido’s count at least 67 Conservatives are in the splash zone.
What makes Labour’s latest offensive even more dirty is the ads aren’t even true. They started running yesterday and claim “your Tory MP… voted against Labour’s plan to end the Tory sewage scandal”. They even cite the House of Commons Library. The trouble is, Tory MPs didn’t vote against Labour’s sewage plan. In the Commons yesterday, the Conservatives amended Labour’s opposition day motion and successfully passed their own sewage plan. Labour abstained on their own motion.
Labour have clearly forked out significant funds on the ads, so either their campaigns team didn’t want it to go to waste, or they just weren’t plugged into parliamentary events. Sir Robert Goodwill was one of the MPs targeted, he told Guido:
“[the ads] clearly misrepresent what the government is doing on sewage. It clearly misrepresents what Labour did in divisions yesterday. It was the Conservatives who voted for the reduction of sewage discharge.”
This isn’t the way to clean up politics.
UPDATE: Since Guido’s fact check went to pixel this morning, Labour have deactivated their mudslinging campaign.
Guido’s just been forwarded this letter from Goodwill, doing the rounds with MPs, in which he explains he has spoken at length with Heather Wheeler regarding the 1922 executive’s decision not to have a run-off vote in the election. To avoid splitting the vote, he has announced he will stand aside in her favour. Quite a gesture of goodwill…
In the letter he thanks supporters – especially noting the 2019 intake backers – and wishes Wheeler luck:
“Having spoken at length with Heather, I have reluctantly decided to stand aside in her favour to give her a clear run for the Chairmanship. This means that whoever finally wins will command the support of a majority of colleagues.
If Heather is, as I hope, successful, I Intend to put my name forward for one of the Vice Chair positions and I look forward to working with her in that role.”
Brady will have to pull his finger out now and start campaigning properly…
Read Goodwill’s letter in full:
Guido hears from multiple Tory sources that Graham Brady has taken his foot off the pedal in his re-election campaign for the 1922 Committee chairmanship. Although Brady is still the odds on favourite, the feeling amongst some of the 2019 intake is that he hasn’t made much of an effort to reach out to them; one MP claims “he hasn’t made a single communication”, with another saying “Graham has always been quite distant”. Only two of the MPs Guido spoke to confirmed they’d heard anything at all from Brady. He’d initially expected to walk it, so the mood on the ground is that he’s getting complacent…
His opponents Robert Goodwill and Heather Wheeler, meanwhile, have reportedly been making the rounds amongst the back benches in the last few weeks. Several MPs tell Guido that they’ve been contacted personally by at least one of the two challengers, with one claiming that Wheeler might even be within a shot of winning if the election goes to a run-off. Though Guido would take that with a sack of sodium chloride. Brady’s been in Parliament since 1997, MPs might be gearing up for a change…
With Sir Graham Brady facing an unexpected challenge for the leadership of the 1922 Committee in the form of ex-minister Robert Goodwill, Guido has put together a tale of the tape to give co-conspirators a full measure of the two contenders. The contest is set for late June…
Brady will be a familiar figure to co-conspirators. A notorious lockdown hawk and party rebel, he’s been the committee chairman for nearly 11 years (apart from a brief spell in 2019 when he resigned to mount a Tory leadership bid, only to change his mind and run back to his old job). A headache for the government over Covid, though still the odds-on favourite in this fight…
Goodwill is the MP for Scarborough, and served as a Minister at both the Home Office and Education under Theresa May. He played a part in implementing Britain’s new blue passports, and has been sacked from government twice. Not a huge personal fan of Boris’s, though it’s claimed he plans to show more public loyalty than Brady if he’s elected…
Guido takes the view that the Chairman of the ’22 should not be overly loyal to the party leadership; he needs some of the characteristics of a trade union baron, and should give the Whips headaches when needed and make the Tory leader nervous when he’s unhappy. The attempt in the Cameron era to pack the ’22 with the government payroll vote was rightly resisted. If, as briefed, Goodwill really intends to be more agreeable to the government then Brady is to be preferred. Guido says that because this is the trickiest electorate on the planet, Goodwill might just be looking to sweep up votes from MPs who are government loyalists. Brady has charted a genuinely independent path, and arguably the Tories have been better off for it…
A new Parliamentary term means new Select Committee Chair elections, and the races are already hotting up. Two of the more interesting battles are shaping up to be the Health and Social Care Committee, vacated by Sarah Wollaston, and the Transport Committee, which switches from Labour to Tory due to the size of the Government’s stonking majority. The formerly Lib Dem Science and Technology Committee is turning Blue too…
On the Health Committee, Guido hears that Jeremy Hunt is angling for the top job, but is facing a strong challenge from Dr Dan Poulter who has been sounding out colleagues about standing for the role.
Guido understands that former Transport Minister Robert Goodwill will be standing for the newly Tory role of Transport Committee Chairman, against Tory wet Huw Merriman.
Crispin Blunt is also staging a re-match against Tom Tugendhat who beat Blunt to take the role in 2017.
With every Government bill almost guaranteed to pass, Committee Chair races are set to become the biggest source of scrutiny…
Nominations close for the role of Deputy Speaker today, with the election being held tomorrow. Guido brought you the list of candidates last year…
Peter Bone, an underdog contender for the role, and has sent MPs a comedy video urging them to end his contribution from the backbenches by relegating him to the Speaker’s chair:
Dear Colleagues,
If my email of yesterday didn’t convince you to vote for me as Deputy Speaker, this should be the clincher, as if you vote for me tomorrow, you’ll never have to hear this again!
With very best wishes,
Peter
Bone clearly hoping he won’t come in Beethoven’s 5th…
Guido understands Rosie Winterton is the only Labour candidate standing is therefore guaranteed the second Deputy Speaker spot leaving two up for grabs for the likely five Tory candidates.
Nigel Evans has been picking up momentum, securing the support of Tracey Crouch, Carolyn Harris, and Angus MacNeil; as well as picking up a lot of support from the new ‘blue-collar Tories’ – including his former Parliamentary assistant Simon Fell who is now the MP for Barrow and Furness.
David Amess and Robert Goodwill have been campaigning for the role for a shorter amount of time, and are also considered underdogs in the contest.
Eleanor Laing meanwhile is pitching more for the Labour vote with Chris Bryant and Wes Streeting on board. She will have to overcome memories of messing up in the Chair as MPs were voting on the election bill last year. Laing appeared to have not understood there was no committee stage for the bill and attempted to accept an amendment from Chris Leslie – leading to the face of Bercow having to take over. It was all very awkward.
Voting takes place tomorrow, with the top three candidates (provided at least one is female, Labour, or both) winning the three Deputy Speaker roles…
