'I wouldn’t be disrespectful enough to laugh at your answer, but they just did'.
Tory Chair Greg Hands has had a disastrous appearance on BBC Radio 4 today, after making a ridiculous claim about the humiliating set of by-election results for the Conservative Party.
Hands appeared on the Today Programme to discuss the by-election results which saw the Tories lose Somerton and Frome and Selby and Ainsty, with major swings away from the Tories. They only just managed to hold on to Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Boris Johnson’s former seat.
In Somerton and Frome, the Liberal Democrats managed to overturn a 19,213 majority, with a 29% swing away from the Conservatives. Lib Dem candidate Sarah Dyke received 21,187 votes, with Tory hopeful Faye Purbrick receiving 10,179.
In Selby and Ainsty, one of the safest Tory seats in the country, the Labour Party overturned a 20,137 majority, the biggest ever majority that the party has overturned at a by-election.
Labour’s Keir Mather – aged just 25 – won 16,456 votes, compared to the 12,295 cast for the Tory candidate Claire Holmes, giving the Labour Party a majority of 4,161.
Hands told journalists that the Uxbridge and South Ruislip result, which saw a 6.7% swing away from the Tories to Labour was the “standout result” of the night.
Speaking to the Today programme, he claimed: “I think the standout result was the one in Uxbridge, that’s the one people weren’t expecting.”
His ridiculous claim on what was clearly a humiliating night for the Tories, led to laughter from polling guru John Curtice and the BBC’s political editor, Chris Mason on air.
Today programme host Nick Robinson said: “Forgive me. We are joined, I should explain, by the experts, Professor Sir John Curtice and Chris Mason. I wouldn’t be disrespectful enough to laugh at your answer, but they just did.”
Another out of touch Tory.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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