Months of cloak-and-dagger selection drama for the plum Tory seat of Chester South and Eddisbury have come to an ironic end for chicken run candidate Kieran Mullan. After local favourite Adam Wordsworth was dispatched by high command for attacking Mullan as being “parachuted in“, Kieran must have thought he had a free run of it. Local association voters didn’t agree – reserve candidate and daughter of former local MP Gyles Brandreth Aphra Brandreth has got the selection instead. All that string-pulling and he still lost…
The Tamworth by-election gave a whopping 23.9% swing to Labour last night. This seat was nearly as safe as they come for the Tories in 2019, with a 66.3% majority. They’d held it since 2010. In fact, here are twelve Cabinet Ministers who won a smaller majority in the 2019 election:
- Rishi Sunak: 63% in Richmond (York).
- Jeremy Hunt: 53.3% in South West Surrey.
- Suella Braverman: 63% in Fareham.
- Kemi Badenoch: 63% in Saffron Walden.
- Grant Shapps: 52% in Welwyn Hatfield.
- Oliver Dowden: 62% in Hertsmere.
- Alex Chalk: 48% in Cheltenham.
- Michael Gove: 58% in Surrey Heath.
- Mark Harper: 59% in Forest of Dean.
- Greg Hands: 49% in Chelsea and Fulham.
- Gillian Keegan: 57% in Chichester.
- Penny Mordaunt: 61% in Portsmouth North.
No seat is safe…
UPDATE: According to YouGov “Conservative voters think the government has the wrong leader by 46% to 36%, and the wrong policies by 53% to 29% (with 36% thinking both are wrong)
Compared to 2022, when Boris Johnson was still prime minister, Tory voters are 4 points less likely to say the government has the right leader, and 16 points less likely to say the government has the right policies.”
The Tories have selected Nigel Gardner as the candidate for the new constituency of Harpenden & Berkhamsted. His dedication to the Tory party doesn’t exactly have a long history…
Gardner must have forgotten to mention his Labour past – he was the Labour candidate for Tory heartland Suffolk Coastal for Westminster in 2001, and Brussels in 2004 and 2009. He also fought for the Lichfield seat in 2005, in a losing effort against none other than… Michael Fabricant. Fabbers tells Guido that despite their past political differences, Gardner “was rather a cut above the other candidates Lichfield Labour Party usually select”, and “we both found it rather awkward that in the GE hustings we agreed on most things.” Fabbers won with 48.6% of the vote compared to Gardner’s 32.4%…
Now Gardner’s damascene conversion is complete, and he’ll wear a blue rosette at the next general election. Fabbers claims he later met up with his defeated opponent for drinks on the House of Commons Terrace, and they had a “very interesting chat“. Apparently Michael was the one who suggested he joined the Tories in the first place…
Stuart Anderson has been selected as the Tory candidate for the new seat of South Shropshire, replacing current MP for Ludlow Philip Dunne. Anderson moved to South Shropshire earlier this year, having previously claimed he would not contest his current Wolverhampton South West seat for ‘personal and family reasons’. He was also a rumoured name on the long list in Bromsgrove. Wonder what those personal reasons for leaving Wolverhampton could be…
Any ideas?
Susan Hall has been announced as the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London following a vote from Conservative members. The final results were:
Susan Hall – 57%
Moz Hossain – 43%
Neil Garratt AM, the Leader of City Hall Conservatives, welcomed Susan’s selection and said:
“Congratulations to my colleague Susan Hall on becoming Conservative Candidate for Mayor of London! Susan has been holding the Mayor to account for many years and is the absolute right person to take on this challenge. I’m looking forward to continuing working with her as she puts forward her vision for London.”
Now she’s just got to beat Sadiq…
The New Conservatives group of MPs have finally launched their well-briefed 12-point manifesto this morning, demanding the PM cuts net migration by roughly 400,000 before the general election. The 25-strong group of 2017 and 2019 intake MPs insist they’re not rebels, although designing a logo, hosting a manifesto launch, and warning Rishi should follow their plans or risk “eroding public trust” suggests they’re not planning on staying quiet over the next year…
The manifesto was written by Ipswich MP Tom Hunt, and is backed by the likes of Lee Anderson* – who missed the launch today due to an “illness” – Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger. It insists Rishi needs to “honour [the] trust” of the 2019 manifesto by reducing migration to around 200,000 a year by implementing strict measures, including a higher £38,000 salary threshold for skilled workers and reduce visas grants by 117,000. They warn the current system “just [isn’t] working”. Given migration is now at roughly 600,000 a year, and now the Rwanda plan is being pushed further down the road, that’s an understatement…
Unless the indigenous economically inactive can be brought back into the workplace, cutting immigrant workers will mean shortages in critical sectors – health and social care. Britain can’t realistically afford to raise wages in the public sector so it is difficult to square without immigration. Despite the fanfare, Downing Street have already poured cold water on the proposals. His spokesperson said today the current measures “strike the right balance currently“. 93% of the country appears to disagree…
* Anderson supports the group, though his name did not appear on its list of supporters this morning because, as Tory Deputy Chairman, he can’t officially endorse outsider policy proposals…
Read the full 12-point plan, and the list of MPs publicly backing the group, below:
