Robert Courts has been elected Chair of the Defence Select Committee, succeeding Tobias Ellwood after the latter jumped before he was pushed. Courts won in the first round with 249 votes, defeating Sarah Atherton (142) and Mark Francois (39). Some advice: avoid praising the effectiveness of the Taliban…
Ben Wallace will not be throwing his hat in the ring to succeed Tobias Ellwood as the Chairman of the Commons’ Defence Select Committee. According to the Express, a source “close to” Wallace says he has no interest in the job, in part because it would involve “marking his own homework” so soon after his tenure at the MoD. Many think he should have got NATO Secretary General, despite ruling that out as well…
Nominations to the vacancy will be restricted to Tories, with the role allocated to the party after the 2019 election. There is speculation Liam Fox is mulling a bid, having missed out on a return as Defence Secretary after Wallace’s departure (despite the briefings). Mark Francois has some support from the Tory right, although given all MPs have a vote he may struggle to get over the line. James Sunderland and Sarah Atherton are also possible contenders. Recent Chinese spy revelations are also thought to have hampered potential bids by MPs affected. The vote will take place after the month-long party conference recess. Some advice for whoever wins: try not to do the Taliban’s PR for them…
Tory Sarah Atherton MP is said to be fuming this morning after discovering her Wrexham constituents had been bombarded with “Wrexham News” pamphlets which, when opened, were full of exciting news about… Gloucestershire. Which happens to be about 100 miles away…
Fingers are already being pointed at CCHQ, although Guido understands it was a suspected ‘printer error’ which is currently being corrected. It’ll have to be corrected quickly, because hundreds of the botched leaflets are already on constituents’ doorsteps. At least the people of Wrexham know Gloucestershire is now protected by 164 new police officers. According to The Sun’s Jack Elsom, Atherton seethed over being made a “laughing stock” in a Tory WhatsApp group…
There have been reports Virginia Crosbie’s literature also had the wrong constituency info inside, though Guido hears this was actually spotted in a pre-release proof, and was corrected before printing. Jane Stevenson’s initially had a freepost address error too, which has also been corrected. They got there in the end…
A regional branch of the Unite union played a blinder this afternoon in organising and holding a protest outside the office of Wrexham Tory MP Sarah Atherton’s office, calling for a pay rise for nurses. Guido can’t help observing a couple of problems with the rally:
- Atherton is a former nurse who worked 61 hours in a local hospital during the Covid crisis, so already knows a thing or two about the current nurses pay settlement
- Nurses pay is a devolved policy to the Welsh Assembly, which is run by – guess who – Labour.
What a waste of a sunny Friday afternoon…
