"we'll change the things that need changing and that's all we'll change": the paSUKification of post-brexit politics 2021

🚨 SCOOP: Christian Wakeford, the Tory MP for Bury South is defecting to the Labour party.

Formal announcement coming in five minuteshttps://t.co/GIIB7XlCJ2

— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) January 19, 2022

always a great sign when a Tory joins Labour

Ignoring the context and sadlols, when did this last happen?

i remember at least one under Blair? hence the sadness

i may have imagine that, the last 40-odd years have been a political mare

i guess the worst bit is when they don't feel the need to make the token step thru the Lib Dems first

Shaun Woodward?

As Boaby would say, once a Tory always a Tory, tell 'im tae get tae fuck.

Most direct way to win back them rote mauer seats i guess lol

lol this kind of slippery 'my constituents feel minorities have more rights then they do' without quite being willing to say whether this is what you yourself also think is so despicable

our new labour mp on the PCSC bill… https://t.co/JGuGpZfiKS pic.twitter.com/Toz4YGZ1o9

— Michael Millar (@mikemiIIar) January 19, 2022

xp exactly the thought in Wakeford's head i'm sure

cos of his name i keep thinking he's an MP for 1980s theme park Wakefield

new Labour mp looks BNP to me and has the voting record and statements to match. thank god the Labour Party under new management has returned Labour to its long traditions of antiracism 🙏 pic.twitter.com/7qtMh0tNOv

— michael (@Sisyphusa) January 19, 2022

quick skim of wikipedia says the last con-lab defection in 2007: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Davies

(shaun woodward was 1999)

LOL David Davies pulling the old "In the name of God go" chestnut out of the fire.

i was never that big a Kinks fan anyway

The Wakeford person is presumably terrible, and that he can join Labour presumably shows that Labour is bad.

But I just wish to revive a procedural point from the CHUK / TIG days:

If you have been elected for one party, you should not then join a different party without standing for re-election.

Everyone on the Left said this about Umuna and that appalling new party. It must be true for this individual also.

Even as someone who hates the Conservative Party, hates KS's Labour, would hate this MP, and would never vote for any of them, I think -- it is basically unfair to the people who voted for this MP, that he is now going to be in a different party from what they voted for.

I wonder if Wakeford was inspired to cross the aisle after hearing that awesome Gary Neville interview by Nick Robinson.

a lot of Labour melts were saying this until 3 hours ago

People who can switch parties like that are probably fascists, based on my sample size of one (Moseley). There's something really odd about it.

this is the complete list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elected_British_politicians_who_have_changed_party_affiliation

this guy is my favourite:

1828: Charles Williams-Wynn, Tory to Whig (bcz not offered a position in Government)
1834: Charles Williams-Wynn, Whig to Tory (offfered position in Government)

Does Wakeford have far-right associations (like Dehenna Davison)? I’ve not seen much that places him much further to the right than a bunch of existing Labour MPs.

From that Wakeford quote, "We are not against Travellers, we are just against unauthorised Traveller encampments" has a disquieting ring about it for sure, no doubt Starmer can equivocate for England on the issue though.

That’s a core local Labour campaigning pledge in a lot of the country, as Charlotte Nichols will tell you!

I believe he's been dog whistling racist shit but the list of MPs who haven't is short

so this guy voted for the Elections Bill that is likely to disenfranchise a lot of Labour voters (well the ones that haven't already been alienated by Kieth) just like a day or so before he joins the Labour Party.

Pretty sure hard muscle man blue trousers rape gangs Kieth supports that

and if he'd had his whip removed for voting with Labour he wouldn't be able to do that pantomime crossing the aisle thing that gets lobby hacks aroused

Great news! This Tory government can soon be replaced by another Tory Government, with an, arguably, misleading name.

— Lloyd Cole (@Lloyd_Cole) January 19, 2022

heh! I had him down as a melt!

Me too, god bless him

In a WhatsApp message in 2021, the then Tory MP Christian Wakeford - who has today defected to Labour - called the Labour Party, and I quote:

“A bunch of cunts”.

can't argue with that

Welcome @Christian4BuryS to @UKLabour. He sees the light with corrupt lying gov. I reserve judgement on his vote/speaking record.
I look forward to his support of Dem. Socialism, unions, human rights, against Gypsy/GRT racism & issues he's been wrong about. #BetterLateThanNever https://t.co/zoV1JCmqDF

— Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP🌹🏳️‍🌈 (@lloyd_rm) January 19, 2022

uneverno

An actual quote from Wakeford, says it all really:

I was elected as a moderate and as a centrist and I am still a moderate and a centrist. I’m just wearing a different rosette.

at the risk of attracting familiar flak, that doesn't strike me as a particularly awful response from LRM; he correctly identifies wakeford's voting (and speaking/leafletting/etc) record as trash and invites him to recant, knowing the unlikelihood of this (following up 'reserve judgement' with the instant thespy volte-face 'issues he's been wrong about') - better this than a bland 'welcome to the party of the future' bromide

obviously it is worrying that Labour is attracting such sorts, but this is hardly news considering some of their extant MPs

obviously making any sort of welcome, no matter how caustic, to a man so flagrantly awful as wakeford, is a bad look for a SCG member, so the flak he's getting is understandable, even if the sentiment isn't evil or anything

whittome for instance, who's a much sharper politician, has kept her trap shut on wakeford

It’s obviously meant to be taken as barbed but it’s lame

you sure know about it when you get a hard shoulder barge from the soft-left!

Jeebus

lol even the BBC asking Reeves why the whip isn't restored to Corbyn if they are now quite an undiscerning broad church. And the defection is being spun as a failure that shored up Tories enough to keep their powder dry until the whitewash report comes out. In the long term it will prove to be a terrible move when Labour are back to -10.

Also Reeves

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FJfzrgKWUAgUteN.jpg

Rachel Reeves says this on a day in which a Tory MP - elected under Boris Johnson - who demonised refugees and voted to drive children into poverty was embraced by the Labour party.

Presumably she thinks he "shares our values". pic.twitter.com/s17hTOd4Il

— Owen Jones 🌹 (@OwenJones84) January 19, 2022

she cares a lot about eradicating anti-Semitism wherever it shows its ugly head. Special rules apply to hanging up a Nancy Astor portrait in her office.

Labour glad they have fewer members and Tories glad they have fewer MPs is the take I'm seeing.

Got an instant flash of Ian Faith in Spinal Tap saying the band playing smaller venues showed their appeal was merely becoming more selective.

(xp) the difference being the Tories have plenty to spare.

so this guy voted for the Elections Bill that is likely to disenfranchise a lot of Labour voters (well the ones that haven't already been alienated by Kieth) just like a day or so before he joins the Labour Party.

― calzino, Wednesday, 19 January 2022 bookmarkflaglink

The takes I'm seeing are from 'Tories locked in' to actually 'no more than 10 seats gained' for them. It's obviously terrible for democracy but I'd really like more analysis on the impact.

Pushing formerly engaged people away in cities could do a lot more long-term damage. Reeves ofc saying 'this is good actually' but what's the impact over the years? We might see some of this at the council elections later this year.

at the risk of attracting familiar flak, that doesn't strike me as a particularly awful response from LRM; he correctly identifies wakeford's voting (and speaking/leafletting/etc) record as trash and invites him to recant, knowing the unlikelihood of this (following up 'reserve judgement' with the instant thespy volte-face 'issues he's been wrong about') - better this than a bland 'welcome to the party of the future' bromide

obviously it is worrying that Labour is attracting such sorts, but this is hardly news considering some of their extant MPs

― imago, Wednesday, 19 January 2022 bookmarkflaglink

https://www.finecheese.co.uk/media/catalog/product/2/0/20150224_fcc_bath_blue_5769_b_fcolo3psknvi9gyn.jpg