Nikolay Kalinin salutes the YouTube pranksters who managed to bribe Piers Corbyn into stop criticising the AstraZeneca vaccine
Piers Corbyn, much like Reform UK’s Richard Tice, is a deranged clot, even if 20,000 people voted for him in the London mayoral election. However, his reign as Britain’s biggest ignoramuses is about to come to an end, because he has just been exposed by none other than two YouTube pranksters.
Having bought a share worth £100 of AstraZeneca in order to make themselves look legitimate, Pieters and Manners met up with Corbyn in order to offer him the money, which he swiftly accepted.
Corbyn however insisted that the donation should not influence him to make any “policy changes,” to which Manners responded: “We’re not asking for a change in policy or anything but if there is anything that could be done to focus a bit on Pfizer or Moderna… that would be a useful thing.”
Through a series of elaborate tricks, the two were able to swap the real money with Monopoly money when Corbyn wasn’t looking. The latter then told the two: “If people ask where’s this come from I’ll say… it’s a businessman who runs restaurants.”
Corbyn later commented on the prank on the anti-vaxx platform Brand New Tube as an “attempted frame up” – a statement completely inaccurate, considering he instantly agreed to take the money, showing that he was interested in the offer – and also stated: “I would never compromise our campaign principles. There are many attacks against us all now; this is one be careful of more.”
Not only is Piers Corbyn a massive piffle-spitter with the intellectual ability of a tadpole, but he is also a sellout. Now also, it has been proven that he has utterly no credibility and therefore does not deserve any kind of following.
I commend Pieters and Manners for exposing this whining nutcase, and I really hope that next they’ll pull off a successful prank on Laurence Fox or Richard Tice, because if there’s anyone who can destroy a loony’s career in ten minutes, it’s them.
Nikolay Kalinin on whether Matt Hancock can survive as a politician
The last month has been pure torture for Matt Hancock, as the former Health Secretary has been ridiculed by practically everyone in the country, lost a job that allowed him to give contracts to his family members, and also left his wife for his aide with whom he was caught breaking social distancing guidelines. However, soon, for him, things might actually get even worse.
Hancock now faces challenges from politicians in his own constituency after the Newmarket Town Council passed a vote of no confidence which stated that he “neglected the best interests of his constituents” and accused him of “hypocrisy.”
Five councillors voted for the motion, while another five voted against and another five abstained. Newmarket mayor Michael Jeffrys, a member of the Labour Party, used his casting vote to pass the motion. No Conservative councillor voted for the motion.
The West Suffolk Conservative Association responded to the news by pointing out: “Even the Labour/Independent-controlled local town council couldn’t find a majority against Matt Hancock,” while reiterating their support for the former health secretary.
Meanwhile, independent councillor Douglas Hall stated that he would rather not have been presented with the vote, but also stated that there’s a “level of annoyance with his breaking his own rules,” including his alleged use of his private email address which prevented the government from having a record of Hancock’s decision-making during the pandemic.
At this point, it’s hard to see how Hancock’s career can continue beyond 2024, because most likely the people will never forget the damage that he and the British government inflicted on them during the pandemic, meaning that there’s a chance he might lose his West Suffolk seat.
Still, we have to remember that Boris Johnson is in charge of the Conservatives, and once the pandemic settles down, he might bring Hancock back for another job, because he and the party clearly believe that the British public has short-term memory.
We also have to remind ourselves that the majority of the print media is right-wing, and once things return to semi-normal, they will go back to worshipping the Conservatives shrine, further increasing Hancock’s chances of staying in politics.
In June 2020, whilst appearing on the popular ‘Biting Talk’ Instagram TV channel, the Duchess of Cornwall’s son, Tom Parker-Bowles, shared the public’s contempt for Matt Hancock (pictured with his lover, Gina Coladangelo) in remarking of him: “You’re joking! Absolutely weird! I just can’t stand him!”
Nikolay Kalinin calls out Reform UK leader Richard Tice for spouting nonsense about Covid-19, vaccines and fertility
Reform UK’s leader Richard Tice is the kind of bloke I’d most definitely not want to take down the pub. Known for supporting policies that would bring chlorinated chicken into Britain, the founder of Leave.EU previously ludicrously claimed that Brexit would prevent an “Orlando-style atrocity” by Islam extremists and also that “immigration without assimilation equals invasion.”
When criticised for his blatant stupidity, “lobbyist who carries a poison pen” Isabel Oakeshott’s current squeeze cited the websites of Yellow Card and VAERS. In doing so, he simply showed that he is clearly ignorant of the fact that not only are both of these schemes reliant on voluntary reporting that is biased and inaccurate, but also that he is unaware that Yellow Card itself presented inaccurate information about the vaccines.
Tice has subsequently apologised and deleted his original tweet, but the point is that we cannot ignore such insanity, because there are actually people in the United Kingdom who believe such tosh when it is force fed to them.
The piffle coming from Reform UK is just as bad; recently, the party started whingeing about a video they shared being removed from social media channels for spreading misinformation about COVID-19. In it, they specifically stated that masks don’t protect against COVID-19 – claiming that “the only proper clinical study – which was carried out in Denmark – showed masks make no statistically significant difference in reducing transmission.”
In reality, the Danish study “didn’t look at whether mask-wearing protects others by stopping wearers from exhaling the virus,” meaning that saying that masks don’t have a significant effect is very much a flawed claim.
Furthermore, the party has published a graphic on Twitter that attempted to back up their anti-mask agenda by claiming that a YouGov poll concluded that 56% of 19,000 people surveyed would stop wearing masks following ‘Freedom Day.’
In addition, Reform UK fails to acknowledge that YouGov also conducted a survey which concluded that 71% of Britons support face masks remaining compulsory on public transport and 66% backed keeping face masks compulsory in shops and some enclosed public spaces.
All-in-all, this demonstrates that Reform UK is nothing but a party of prattling pillocks who, though they claim to be teachers, messiahs and protectors of freedom, are actually trying to lower the population’s average IQ in order to get them to believe their tosh and grant them power.
What especially upsets me is how Reform UK presents itself as an “anti-establishment” party, despite the fact that its leader and founders are anything but non-establishment. Both Farage and Tice went to boarding school, and Tice himself is a former member of the Conservative party and a multi-millionaire based in Belgravia. However, because they present themselves as the opponents of the “metropolitan elite,” their claims are somehow automatically legitimised by the public – no matter how inaccurate they are.
Uppingham educated Tice should do what Farage did; sod off from politics and take his rambling rantings elsewhere, they have no place in a civilised society.
Pictured top: Self-declared “cause based campaigner” Richard Tice with his so-called ‘journalist’ lover Isabel Oakeshott.
The Reform UK leader was previously deservedly “roasted” for an “utterly creepy advert” that “read like an advert for condoms” in 2019.
Nikolay Kalinin on ‘Priti Awful’ Patel trying to silence journalism through changes to the Official Secrets Act
Accountability is one of the pillars of our democracy and it is how we attempt to ensure that MPs work for no one other than for their constituents. If they do something wrong, the system is meant to hold them accountable through scrutiny, and if necessary, recall petitions and by-elections.
It seems, however, that after months of being held accountable by the public and the British press for their abhorrent behaviour during the pandemic, the government has decided that the best course of action is to now ban journalists from writing stories that “embarrass the government.”
Under this law, things such as the leaked Matt Hancock video, as well as Dominic Cummings’ texts revealing how the latter and Boris mishandled the pandemic, would be seen as illegal in the hands of journalists and could result in them facing maximum 14 years in prison.
So, let’s just recap: the British taxpayer is paying for a government that wants to limit the ability of journalists and the public to hold it to account. I would suggest that sounds a lot like what tyrants do.
The Home Office has denied that the change will suppress journalists exposing the government’s incompetence. In response to criticism, they stated: “It is wrong to claim the proposals will put journalists at risk of being treated like spies and they will, rightly, remain free to hold the government to account” and added “this will be balanced to protect press freedom and the ability for whistleblowers to hold organisations to account”.
At the same time however, the Home Office has denied providing ‘public interest defence’ to journalists at the recommendation of human rights organisations, stating that such proposals “undermine our efforts to prevent damaging unauthorised disclosures, which would not be in the public interest.”
Not only does the government want to crack down on protesters bringing the people in it to account, but also it wants to crack down on journalists who have an important role in spreading the truth about the government’s actions through the media.
I think this is the part where most of us get up and say: “Let’s take back control.” We are tired of the Conservatives treating the public that elected them like livestock. It’s time they realise that we have the power to push them off their throne – because this is how proper democracy works.
Elsewhere this morning, the ‘Guardian’ reported that the Police Federation of England and Wales had issued a “scathing announcement” that suggested the Home Secretary “could not be trusted.” Going further of ‘Priti Awful,’ they added: “As the undisputed voice of policing we say this to the home secretary: you cannot pat our members on the back for their heroic efforts with one hand, while effectively taking their pay with the other… Warm words are no longer enough.”
‘Priti Awful’ Patel’s proposed changes to legislation would result in journalists handling leaked documents not having a defence if charged. They would effectively result in them being “treated like foreign spies.” Human rights groups have suggested in response that there should be a “public interest defence” that would prevent the prosecution of journalists who receive leaked documents.
Since June, the former UKIP leader hosted a Sunday political discussion show called The Political Correction, and now the people behind the channel have decided that they are comfortable enough to allow ‘Nutty Nige’ to have his own show.
In the video announcement, Farage projected his usual anti-establishment tone that would appeal to an average UKIP voter – if there’s even such a thing left – stating: “I’ll interview people who really understand their subjects, not some minister who’s there to spout the party line.”
In an attempt to further shoehorn how right-wing he is, Farage ended the video with the remark: “I will not be taking the knee on this show!”
Farage’s announcement comes days after reports have been released revealing a chaotic atmosphere behind the scenes, including the departure of the channel’s director of programming John McAndrew due to his opposition to “Wootton-style culture war rants,” as well as Gill Penlington, another senior figure who has worked for CNN and Sky News.
This therefore, makes Nigel Farage the only rat in history to join a sinking ship.
In a way, the decision by the channel’s management to promote Farage to official host during this time demonstrates that they are trying to save the channel by attempting to appeal to Farage’s audience, who most likely were the ones boycotting the channel some time ago because of a guest presenter taking the knee, meaning that GB News has essentially confirmed that it’s pandering to a right-wing audience.
This could increase the channel’s ratings, although I predict it will not make much of a difference, because GB News is still far behind esteemed broadcasters such as BBC and ITV when it comes to ratings. I also honestly doubt that audiences will be attracted to another political discussion show that has the same format as all the other shows.
BREAKING
Watch my new Prime Time evening show on GB News from next week.
Nigel Farage at GB News with condom campaigner Tom Harwood and blabbering busybody Benjamin Butterworth behind him.If Andrew Neil truly believes Nigel Farage will save GB News, he will deservedly be mocked as being beyond crackers.
Nikolay Kalinin slams Priti Patel and the Parole Board for allowing double child killer and rapist Colin Pitchfork to go free to potentially kill again
If you don’t know who Pitchfork – who now calls himself David Thorpe – is, he was the first person to be convicted of murder on the basis of DNA, after raping and murdering two 15-year-olds in Leicestershire. Now, having served 33 years in prison, he is on the verge of becoming a free man.
The double child killer and rapist on his wedding day in 1981. In April 2009, a sculpture created by him depicting a choir and orchestra was exhibited at the Royal Festival Hall after having been purchased by them for £600. After much public and media outrage, it was subsequently removed from display. “Moody” Pitchfork was married with two sons and aged 22 at the time of the first murder. Before his marriage, he had been convicted of indecent exposure. His victims were both aged 15 and named Lynda Mann (raped and strangled on the 21st November 1983) and Dawn Ashworth (beaten, savagely raped and strangled on the 31st July 1986).
The Parole Board announced back in June that it was considering releasing Pitchfork, and despite former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland asking the board to reconsider the decision and calling it “irrational,” the board has stated that because Pitchfork’s behaviour had been “positive and had included extensive efforts to help others,” he shall be released.
The families of the victims have rightfully condemned the board’s decision, with one of the girl’s uncles stating that the decision is “an affront to natural justice.” He further stated: “There are some crimes so horrendous that a reprieve is not appropriate”.
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice also expressed disappointment with the outcome. They sent condolences to the families of the victims and added that the government will change the law “so that child murderers such as Pitchfork face life in prison without the possibility of parole as the default sentence.”
Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, people who commit child abduction and murder for sadistic/sexual purposes will face life imprisonment.
I stand with the families of the victims and I agree that this monstrous man should stay in prison for life. It doesn’t matter if he was a good prisoner, because one can never undo the rape and murder of two innocent girls and the damage that this has inflicted on their families.
By releasing this inhuman swine, the Parole Board is demonstrating very little decency towards justice and towards the families. Pitchfork should stay in prison for life because that is the only way we can stop such deviants such as him from again doing harm to innocent families. Period.
Pictured top: A recent image of the child killer Colin Pitchfork on day release from prison. ‘The Sun’ recently reported he “has already been freed to roam the streets during un-monitored days out to look for a job and home” whilst in 2017, the paper reported “he was seen eating a pulled pork sandwich and giggled as he pored over ‘Great British Bake Off’ books.”
An initial suspect, a 17-year-old with learning difficulties named Richard Buckland, was eventually cleared of the crimes. Of this Alec Jeffreys, a genetics researcher at the University of Leicester who developed DNA profiling along with two others, remarked: “I have no doubt whatsoever that he [Buckland] would have been found guilty had it not been for DNA evidence. That was a remarkable occurrence.”
Pitchfork was caught after 5,500 local men were asked to volunteer blood or saliva samples. This took six months and whilst the double child killer and rapist got someone else to take the blood test for him, that individual bragged about in a pub and was overheard by a woman who reported what she had heard to the police.
Nikolay Kalinin calls out Grant Shapps’ decision to replace ‘GB’ car stickers with ‘UK’ ones as utterly ludicrous
There are so many things that Conservative MPs could focus on right now.
They could work on reviving British business – if they truly care about Brexit – or strengthening links between the different regions in order to prevent them from declaring independence, but instead they decided to instead obsess about car stickers. Yes, you heard it right, car stickers.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps recently announced that production of traditional ‘GB‘ motifs used by British drivers abroad will be discontinued in favour of a legal emblem stating ‘UK.’ Their reasoning? The Daily Mail reports it is being done “as an attempt to win over unionists amid heightened tensions over post-Brexit border checks” and in order to “send a clear message about Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom.” Exactly how the new rule will “win over unionists,” however, was not explained by the minister.
Tory MP Ian Liddell-Grainger responded to the announcement by stating: “I can’t see the point. It seems to me to be a complete waste of money when we don’t need to be wasting money. It also seems to be a slap in the face for people who are proud to be GB.”
However, another Tory MP told the Mail: “The United Kingdom is stronger because it has the link with Northern Ireland because if you say Great Britain you are excluding Northern Ireland. I think it strengthen the ties at a time when we have got a problem.”
If the transport secretary really cared about “including” Northern Ireland within the country, he would by this point get on with the construction of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland that Boris Johnson pledged to build a few months ago, which would benefit national trade and establish an easier connection between Northern Ireland and the rest of UK.
Policy like this affirms what many online satirists and journalists have been saying: The Conservatives care about anything but the people they’re supposed to represent. Instead of passing legislation designed to help people, they introduce initiatives that are either pointless, such as One Britain One Nation Day, or do things that make life worse for people, for example by not closing the country in time when the Delta variant began to spread.
COVID has exposed even more how these people absolutely don’t care about the public’s wellbeing, because while Boris Johnson has pledged to remove the rule of compulsory mask-wearing in shops and public transport, a recent poll by YouGov has concluded that 71% of people in England, Wales and Scotland want mask-wearing to be compulsory after July 19th, with 66% saying that the rules should remain in shops and enclosed public spaces.
If you need more evidence, just look at the Conservatives trying to suppress the right to protest with the Policing and Crime Bill, which Labour proposed to amend by introducing a minimum sentence for rape. Unsurprisingly, the Conservatives voted against the amendment. They don’t care about the people who suffered violence in their households during lockdown, because as Labour MP Angela Rayner stated, the Conservatives are “more interested in protecting statues than protecting women.”
The Conservatives need to realise that even though they have a 363-seat majority, that does not grant them immunity from public scrutiny and accountability. They still have a job of representing the people, and it’s about time that they started doing that, instead of passing laws that are unnecessary and pointless.
Pictured top: Aside from being “beguiled” by the e-scooter lobby, as we reported on Sunday, Grant Shapps is now set to inflict his plain personal obsession with ‘UK’ stickers over ‘GB’ stickers on the British public.
Shapps’ decision has been ridiculed on all sides of the political divide. It will not only anger Brexiteers, but also those whose loyalties still are to the European Union.Of the move, Ian Liddell-Grainger MP remarked: “That is a bit bloody rum. I can’t see the point. It seems to me to be a complete waste of money when we don’t need to be wasting money. It also seems to be a slap in the face for people who are proud to be GB. It is a waste of time, a waste of money. I don’t know why we are bothering.” Going further, ‘The Sun’ added: “The AA described the move, which was settled on in May but not announced, leaving them feeling left ‘in the lurch’ as stocks of some 50,000 ‘GB’ motifs are now completely worthless.”
Previous advice, such as shown in this video shared on YouTube in February, is now out of date. Those that don’t follow the new rules, ‘The Sun’ concludes: “It will be a legal requirement to slap the ‘UK’ one on your car, and rule flouters could face fines. These will be down to the individual countries.”
Nikolay Kalinin digests the result of the Batley and Spen by-election and reminds firebrand fruitcake George Galloway to eat his hat
It didn’t seem likely, but Labour has managed to keep the Batley and Spen seat – albeit with a minimal majority of just 323 votes, with Kim Leadbeater narrowly beating Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson.
This result brings an end to what has been a campaign that has been described as “a battleground” by one constituent, mainly due to the divisions within the Muslim community, most of whom have condemned Labour’s stance on foreign policy issues such as Palestine and have not forgotten Blair’s support for the Iraq war.
The man who helped further inflame these divisions, George Galloway, who in the days leading up to the election complained about the Batley council taking down his posters for not meeting election requirements, has responded to Labour’s win by transforming into Britain’s answer to Donald Trump and telling reporters: “On multiple grounds, we will apply to the court for this election result.”
During the campaign Galloway claimed that if Labour came in any other place but third, he would eat his own hat, and if he truly is a politician of honour, he should now keep his word and do just such.
The campaign has also seen allegations of dirty tactics used by groups in order to ruin Labour’s chances, with the most notable example being the distribution of a fake TUC leaflet highlighting Sir Keir Starmer’s support for BLM and stating that “it is high time that white people acknowledged their privilege and gave something back to people of colour.”
What Labour must remember is that their minimal majority should actually be a wake-up call for them, even if Conservative MPs and members of the public have attributed the narrow defeat of the Tories to Matt Hancock’s affair and the government pushing back “freedom day.”
Ever since MP Jo Cox – who was the sister of the new MP Leadbeater – was murdered in 2016 by a member of the far-right, there have been attempts to divide the community, and the events at local grammar school are the latest which have allowed people like George Galloway to exploit divisions for their own gain.
Even though Galloway did not manage to topple Starmer and Labour, he did manage to cause significant damage to Labour by taking away a sizeable amount of their Muslim base, notably by condemning LGBTQ+ inclusive education and promising to give control of what children can learn to their parents, which appealed to much of the Muslim population.
Labour should work as hard as possible within their English constituencies in order to prevent division, not only regarding the issue of Brexit but also regarding local issues. Starmer should also not restrain himself from condemning Johnson’s government at every opportunity, because only then will ‘Bosie The Clown’ be made to take accountability.
After his antics in Batley & Spen simply caused division, but allowed Labour its narrow victory, it is time to remind George Galloway of his own words and to make him follow up on his promise and consume his own headwear.
Commenting on the result for the ‘Daily Mail,’ Simon Walters observed: “[The] Batley by-election loss proves Boris Johnson needs a shot in the arm all over again… One Conservative from a ‘Red Wall’ constituency who campaigned there told me: ‘I owe my seat to Boris but people in Batley were not happy with his dithering on Hancock. It was tin-eared.’”
Sir Keir Starmer may have been just about saved from obliteration in Batley and Spen, but what must be remembered about the campaign is that George Galloway used the seat to spark what Lady Shami Chakrabarti, the former attorney general for England and Wales, termed “complex northern brew toxic.” Going further, Lady Chakrabarti added: “Galloway has form for misogyny, having made offensive comments about forced marriage in the hateful campaign he ran against Naz Shah in Bradford West in 2015, and having speculated that sex assault allegations made against Julian Assange were merely ‘bad sexual etiquette.’ In his latest campaign, the dexterous shapeshifter has made hay from a nasty dispute about images of the prophet being shown in a classroom, one minute affirming people’s ‘right to defend religious sensibilities’ and the next sidling up to self-styled ‘free speech activist’ Lawrence Fox.”
George Galloway has now vowed to challenge the result in court. In a statement, he remarked: “The result of this by-election cannot stand. We will take whatever legal measures necessary to have that result set-aside. There are multiple reasons… But the tin hat was put on the banana republic exercise that has been called this parliamentary by-election by the returning officer’s decision to refuse to grant a recount when the margin of victory was less than one per cent.”
Nikolay Kalinin joins those mocking the “godawful silliness” of the One Britain, One Nation campaign and slams it as anything but true patriotism
It seems that because five years have passed since Brexit, the government has decided that the only problem that now needs solving is the public’s supposed lack of patriotism – and so they have decided to make muscular unionism an official government policy.
The first hellish component of this ‘plan’ is the One Britain, One Nation day, named after the campaign group of the same name, which according to its website aims to “create a strong, fair, harmonious and a proud British Nation – celebrating patriotism and respect for all our people.”
The campaign has even produced a song which was performed by schoolchildren, which was so disturbing that even GB News host Kirsty Gallacher stated: “I don’t want my children singing that”, even going as far as calling the tune “propaganda”.
The campaign promoted much-expected backlash on social media, with many comparing the campaign to something from the Hitler Youth, while LBC host James O’Brien said on air: “If I played you (the song) before Brexit and said that the Department of Education is encouraging all children in the country to sing this song at school, I don’t think you would have believed me.”
It seems that the government haven’t learnt their lesson, because American-born Tory MP for Beaconsfield Joy Morrissey announced recently on Twitter that she will be campaigning alongside the British Monarchist Society to “put a portrait of Her Majesty in every home, company, and institution that would like one” adding: “It is time to rediscover our pride in being British!”
As expected, the response on social media was dominated by condemnation, with many calling out the campaign as pointless at a time when the pandemic is the issue that needs focusing on. Journalist Ian Dunt responded: “If these people had the slightest idea what there is to be proud of about Britain, they’d not be coming up with this godawful silliness.”
The indy100 meanwhile wrote in their article about the issue: “The Tory party are almost becoming post-ironic. Perhaps Morrissey is angling for the Queen to bestow some sort of honours upon her, to which we say – nobody likes a teacher’s pet.”
I am not against the idea of putting up pictures of the monarchy in one’s home; we all have the personal freedom to do that, and I respect it. However, when an MP from the ruling party starts a campaign aiming to put up pictures in every person’s home, this begins to look like an act of utter ridiculousness and an attempt at indoctrination.
Morrissey also seems to have forgot to read the room, because a recent YouGov poll revealed that only 4% of the people in the UK have a portrait of the Queen in their house, which means that the public is simply not interested in the idea of having a picture of the monarch put in their sitting rooms. What Morrissey has done here is fail the most important task for an MP – to know, understand and react to what her electorate wants and needs.
Regarding the One Britain, One Nation campaign, I am not against teaching children about their country. Obviously, children should learn about their country and the communities within it, but why should the government force the schools to teach this romantic image of the nation to the children, when they could just give them all of the knowledge and let the children decide how they feel about their country? That would be much better, because not only does it reflect the idea of personal freedom, but it also allows children to strengthen their critical thinking.
I also find it extremely ironic how these ludicrous announcements were made at the same time when Savanta ComRes published a poll revealing that even five years after the EU referendum, the people in this country are still divided over the issue, with the results showing that 51% of the people would vote remain if the referendum was conducted in 2021.
If the government truly cares about uniting the people of this country, why not try harder to fix the divide between the more prosperous parts of the south and the less well off parts of the north? Why not, also, instead, give more money to local councils as opposed to spending it on a ‘royal yacht’ that will be nothing but a showboat for Boris Johnson’s ego? That would be true patriotism.
Nikolay Kalinin analyses the reasons behind the Liberal Democrats’ success in the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election; is Boris Johnson about to suffer further at the hands of the ‘yellow peril’?
A month after the Conservatives obliterated Labour in Hartlepool, the Liberal Democrats have struck back by winning Chesham and Amersham, a Conservative stronghold since its creation in 1974.
The Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Green won 56.7% of the vote, compared to the Conservatives 35.5% of the vote; this is not surprising, considering the fact that 55% of the constituency’s voters supported remaining in the EU in 2016, which reflects the region’s more liberal, middle-class electorate.
Although Brexit was still a prevalent issue during the campaign, the HS2 was a more major concern in the lead-up to the election, as many individuals within the constituency were concerned that the government’s plans to remove the locals’ rights to decide on developments would lead to the railway system being built in the Chilterns. Home County areas like Chesham and Amersham were the place where Reform UK was able to make gains back in 2019 due to their promise to scrap the HS2, and it’s clear that the Lib Dems capitalised on that ‘NIMBY’ attitude.
The demographics have also been influential in determining the outcome, since many within the area are young, middle-class liberal voters who have moved out of London and who were more likely to vote Remain in 2016.
Not only is this the greatest thing to happen to Lib Dems in a long time, but also the victory has shown that the “blue wall” in Southern England is not unbreakable, a fact that was teased back in May when the party lost several councillors in strongholds such as Tunbridge Wells, Surrey and Chipping Norton, and also when they lost the Oxfordshire council.
The Lib Dems ability to appeal to the locals’ concerns regarding HS2 should show Labour MPs the importance of appealing to the needs of the people in their constituency; at the same time, it also should be of serious concern to Boris Johnson, because even though he can bring down the red wall, the opposition parties can do the same.
Much of this is because according to Ed Davey, the people in traditionally-Conservative constituencies “feel they’re being ignored by the Conservatives, taken for granted.” One southern Conservative MP further elaborated by stating: “There’s an element that our party is trying too hard to be Brexiteers”.
The defeat of the Conservatives in the by-election should be taken seriously by the public and by the politicians, because this could be a foreshadowing to further defeats of Conservatives in the south of England – especially the Home Counties – as the party tries to appeal to more Northern working-class voters, which will definitely alienate the more traditional base of the Conservative party in the South who are more liberal.
Sir Ed Davey celebrated his party’s win in Chesham and Amersham – where his party’s candidate Sarah Green got 21,517 votes (56.7% vote share) as opposed to the Conservative Party’s Peter Fleet’s 13,489 (35.5% vote share) – by hammering at a wall of blue bricks in the style of Timmy Mallett. Overturning a 16,000 Conservative majority with 8,028 more votes than her rival, Green increased her party’s percentage share by 30.4%.
In the by-election, Labour came off even worse than the Tories with just 622 votes and of her win Sarah Green remarked: “Tonight the voice of Chesham and Amersham is unmistakable. Together we have said, ‘enough is enough, we will be heard and this government will listen.’” The by-election was caused by the death in April of former Welsh Secretary Dame Cheryl Gillan. In 2019, she retained the seat with more than half of the vote. But the Conservative majority has been steadily decreasing since the 2015 General Election, when it was 23,920, with UKIP coming second.
