The MP’s post-election results interview was drowned out by Labour cheers.
Labour is back in control of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, as the party took 29 seats in the local elections in a clear victory over the Tories.
Labour was last in control of the city in 2015. The party had targeted the council as a key authority to win.
As cheers rang out at the city’s Fenton Manor Sports Complex when Labour candidates were announced the winners, Jonathan Gullis, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, was interviewed for comments.
Maintaining his disdain of the Left, in an interview on Sky News, the MP claimed that the Tories are “clawing back support,” saying it’s “Keir Starmer and his leftie lawyer mates” that prevent the government from delivering.
The comments were quickly ridiculed on social media.
“Got to applaud Sky News for such utterly delicious timing. If they interviewed him knowing a declaration was incoming that very moment, it’s outstanding work,” wrote one amused onlooker.
“The Jonathan Gullis interview on Sky News gave us all a good laugh,” wrote another.
Baroness Anderson – Ruth Smeeth – former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, who lost her seat to Gullis in 2019, commented: “People have come home to the Labour Party.”
She added that voters had told candidates the “Conservative party had betrayed them – that’s what we were getting on the doors,” but there was still a “huge amount of work to do for the general election.”
“From tomorrow, my city is red.”
Jonathan Gullis is no stranger to causing reaction by making controversial comments. In February, he faced a backlash for laying into ‘savages’, ‘scroats’ and ‘scumbags,’ blighting Stoke-on-Trent. In a video he posted on social media highlighting soaring levels of anti-social behaviour in Stoke, he described an area of the city as being marred by ‘scumbags who fly-tip their filth in our community.’
The following month, he caused more upset, referring to Stoke as ‘Woke-on-Trent.’ The tweet was ripped apart, and a #GullisOut hashtag started trending. “Is this the type of person the Tories want representing them?” someone asked.
After winning key target seats like Stoke-on-Trent in the local elections, Labour have predicted that they are on course for power at Westminster. But even before the results of the local elections came in, political commentators were forecasting Gullis will lose his constituency seat in the next general election. In a piece entitled: ‘Jonathan Gullis: an obituary of a short political career,’ Central Bylines forecasts that at the next general election, the seat is likely to go to Labour councillor, David Williams.
“After a dark period in a political sense for Stoke-on-Trent North, the reality is dawning that the area is highly likely to return a Labour MP at the next general election in the form of David Williams.”
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Twitter screen grab
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