Showing posts with label Anna Turley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna Turley. Show all posts

Wednesday, 4 March 2020

TURLEY'S STILL REMOANING


Anna Turley was one of those Labour MPs who not only went against the Leave mandate and the manifesto she was elected on in 2017, she went against her own constituents.  Redcar returned a 68 per cent Leave vote in 2016, but Turley knew best.  On December the 12th her constituents punished her arrogance by demolishing her 9,485 majority and replacing her with their first ever Tory MP.  To put this in context, the Tories finished a distant fourth here in 2015.

Who or what was to blame for Turley's humiliating defeat depends on who you're talking to.  Corbynistas, keen to expunge their leader of all blame, point to northern seats like Redcar and blame Brexit.  Turley is of the complete opposite view and blames Corbyn, saying his name cropped up on the doorsteps four times more than Brexit.  As a Remainer in a Leave-voting constituency she would say that, but the truth lies closer to home.  It was pressure from people like Turley that led Corbyn to finally succumb to a second referendum.  As we know, the second referendum was a Remain con-trick and 'Leave' would not have been an option on the ballot paper.  As one of those having pushed Corbyn to this atrocious Brexit policy, Turley has no-one to blame but herself.

Many in Redcar CLP and the wider Corbyn movement will have been happy to see the back of Turley.  A moderate she picked fights with the likes of Len McCluskey and even took his union to court.  Others will have been relieved to see off another metropolitan Londoner who was parachuted into their constituency and then arrogantly pushed Remain in spite of an overwhelming mandate to the contrary.

As for lessons learned from her defeat, Turley is unrepentant.  She continues to bash Brexit and, by proxy, those who elected her in 2015 and 2017.  Her response to the blue passport was particularly condescending (see below).


In reality there's nothing more embarrassing than the shame and loathing people like Turley feel for their own country.

Redcar 2019 general election

Jacob Young (Con) 18,811 (46.1%) +12.8%
Anna Turley (Lab) 15,289 (37.4%) -18.1%
Jacqui Cummins (Brexit) 2,915 (7.1%) New
Karen King (Lib Dem) 2,018 (4.9%) -1.8%
Frankie Wales (Ind) 1,323 (3.2%) New
Rowan Mclaughlin (Green) 491 (1.2%) New

Sunday, 29 December 2019

IN BREXIT DENIAL

Eleven ousted Labour MPs and failed candidates have written an open letter to the Observer in which they bemoan their losses and mention Brexit just once.  Labour Remainers who lost their seats in the Brexit heartlands are in complete denial about the impact of their remoaning.  The odious Mary Creagh is the first signatory on the letter, still railing about Corbyn and the hard left while ignoring the fact her 63% Leave voting constituents were furious with her arrogant Brexit stance.  Likewise Anna Turley's 68% Leave voting Redcar constituents, the 68% Leave seat of Wolverhampton North East, 58% Leave Wrexham, 59% Leave Sedgefield and 58% Leave Stockton South.

To lay the blame solely at Corbyn's feet is disingenuous to say the least, particularly for the likes of Creagh and Turley, whose constant remoaning clearly riled their constituents.  Their letter is reproduced in full below.

We have all given significant periods of our lives to the Labour movement, most recently as MPs and candidates in the general election. We have been horrified by the damage that Tory government austerity has wreaked in our communities, crippling our NHS, starving our struggling schools and transport networks, normalising street sleeping and failing to keep our streets safe. Yet sadly, when it came to polling day, Labour was led to its biggest defeat since 1935. We lost seats in every region and nation with a swing against us in every social class – with the biggest swing against us from the poorest people.

The scale of this defeat means that we have to look unflinchingly at what went wrong, way beyond a simple review, welcome as that might be. We need to be honest about why our outgoing leadership’s reflexive anti-western worldview was so unpopular and address the reasons.

We were rejected on doorsteps not just because of our woolly, changing position on Brexit, or in Scotland because of our weak commitment to the union, but because the very people we were supposed to be fighting for did not think the policies in our manifesto related to their lives. The focus on nationalisation and uncontrolled spending commitments meant people simply didn’t believe us. Sadly, this was particularly true with those most affected by the poverty and injustice that 10 years of Tory government has created.

Lastly, cronyism at the top of our party and repeated unwillingness to stand up to the stain of antisemitism were constantly relayed back to us on the doorstep, shaming the traditional values of our once great anti-racist party.

We are devastated that, across the country, we can no longer help our residents to whom we have devoted ourselves, still struggling under a Tory government. It is our duty to speak up now, so that our leadership candidates keep these people at the heart of their campaigns to lead our party.

The challenge for the eventual winner is immense. We need to win 150 seats in every corner of the country, gaining votes from a coalition of communities. Labour needs to be in government – and for that, fundamental change at the top of our party is required. Only this will help us recover from the catastrophic loss of 12 December.


Mary Creagh, former MP for Wakefield
Emma Reynolds, former MP for Wolverhampton North East
Anna Turley, former MP for Redcar
Dr Paul Williams, former MP for Stockton South
Gerard Killen, former MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Martin Whitfield, former MP for East Lothian
Mary Wimbury, Labour candidate for Wrexham
Sheila Gilmore, Labour candidate for Edinburgh East
Ashley Dalton, Labour candidate for Rochford and Southend East
Kate Watson, Labour candidate for Glasgow East
Phil Wilson, former MP for Sedgefield

Wednesday, 18 December 2019

FAREWELL (AND GOOD RIDDANCE)

We made this very emotional video chronicling some of those MPs who perished in the Tory election victory.  How apt that we begin with the hideous, self-serving and eternally out of touch Mary Creagh who this evening reportedly confronted Corbyn and gave him a 20 minute lecture about how it was his leadership that cost Remainer MPs like her their place on the gravy train.  Never mind the fact that her constituents returned a 63% Leave vote after which she spent three and a half years trying to overturn - that had nothing to with it?


We couldn't include all the MPs who lost their jobs as there wasn't a sad piano track long enough, but for those featured you can see how they bowed out in their 2019 election results below.  The incumbents are in bold (changes versus 2017 general election).

Wakefield - 63% Leave

Imran Ahmad-Khan (Con) 21,283 (47.3%) +2.3%
Mary Creagh (Lab) 17,925 (39.8%) -9.9%
Peter Wiltshire (Brexit) 2,725 (6.1%) New
Jamie Needle (Lib Dem) 1,772 (3.9%) +1.9%
Ryan Kett (Yorks) 868 (1.9%) -0.6%
Stephen Whyte (Ind) 454 (1.0%) -1.5%

Kensington - 69% Remain

Felicity Buchan (Con) 16,768 (38.3%) -3.9%
Emma Dent Coad (Lab) 16,618 (38.0%) -4.3%
Sam Gyimah (Lib Dem) 9,312 (21.3%) +9.1%
Vivien Lichtenstein (Green) 535 (1.2%) -0.8%
Jay Aston Colquhoun (Brexit) 384 (0.9%) New
Roger Phillips (Christian) 70 (0.2%) New
Harriet Gore (Touch Love) 47 (0.1%) New
Scott Dore (Workers) 28 (0.1%) New

Peterborough - 61% Leave

Paul Bristow (Con) 22,334 (46.7%) -0.1%
Lisa Forbes (Lab) 19,754 (41.3%) -6.7%Beki Sellick (Lib Dem) 2,334 (4.9%) +1.5%
Mike Greene (Brexit) 2,127 (4.4%) New
Joseph Wells (Green) 728 (1.5%) -0.3%
Luke Ferguson (Ind) 260 (0.5%) New
Tom Rogers (Christian) 151 (0.3%) New
The Very Raving Mr P (Loony) 113 (0.2%) New

Beaconsfield - 51% Remain

Joy Morrissey (Con) 32,477 (56.1%) -9.1%
Dominic Grieve (Ind) 16,765 (29.0%) NewAlexa Collins (Lab) 5,756 (9.9%) -11.5%
Zoe Hatch (Green) 2,033 (3.5%) +1.0%
Adam Cleary (Ind) 837 (1.4%) New

Heywood & Middleton - 62% Leave

Chris Clarkson (Con) 20,453 (43.1%) +5.1%
Liz McInnes (Lab) 19,790 (41.7%) -11.6%Anthony Smith (Lib Dem) 2,073 (4.4%) +2.2%
Nigel Ainsworth-Barnes (Green) 1,220 (2.6%) New

Bridgend  - 50.28% Leave

Jamie Wallis (Con) 18,193 (43.1%) +3.3%
Madeleine Moon (Lab) 17,036 (40.3%) -10.3%
Jonathan Pratt (Lib Dem) 2,368 (5.6%) +3.5%
Leanne Lewis (Plaid) 2,013 (4.8%) +0.7%
Robert Morgan (Brexit) 1,811 (4.3%) New
Alex Harris (Green) 815 (1.9%) -1.9%

North West Durham - 55% Leave

Richard Holden (Con) 19,990 (41.9%) +7.5%
Laura Pidcock (Lab) 18,846 (39.5%) -13.3%John Wolstenholme (Brexit) 3,193 (6.7%) New
Michael Peacock (Lib Dem) 2,831 (5.9%) -1.2%
Watts Stelling (Ind) 1,216 (2.6%) New
David Sewell (Green) 1,173 (2.5%) +1.4%
David Lindsay (Ind) 414 (0.9%) New

Dewsbury - 57% Leave

Mark Eastwood (Con) 26,179 (46.4%) +1.3%
Paula Sherriff (Lab) 24,618 (43.7%) -7.3%John Rossington (Lib Dem) 2,406 (4.3%) +2.1
Philip James (Brexit) 1,874 (3.3%) New
Simon Cope (Green) 1,060 (1.9%) +0.1%
Sir Archibald Earl Eaton Stanton (Loony) 252 (0.4%) New

Bolsover - 70% Leave

Mark Fletcher (Con) 21,791 (47.4%) +6.9%
Dennis Skinner (Lab) 16,492 (35.9%) -16.0%
Kevin Harper (Brexit) 4,151 (9.0%) New
David Hancock (Lib Dem) 1,759 (3.8%) +0.9%
David Kesteven (Green) 758 (1.7%) New
Ross Walker (Ind) 517 (1.1%) New
Natalie Hoy (Ind) 470 (1.0%) New

Wolverhampton South West - 54% Leave

Stuart Anderson (Con) 19,864 (48.3%) +4.1%
Eleanor Smith (Lab) 18,203 (44.3%) -5.1%
Leo Grandison (Brexit) 1,028 (2.5%) New
Bart Ricketts (Lib Dem) 2,041 (5.0%) +3.1%

Crewe & Nantwich - 60% Leave

Kieran Mullan (Con) 28,704 (53.1%) +6.1%
Laura Smith (Lab) 20,196 (37.4%) -9.7%Matthew Theobald (Lib Dem) 2,618 (4.8%) +2.4%
Matt Wood (Brexit) 1,390 (2.6%) New
Te Ata Browne (Green) 975 (1.8%) New
Andrew Kinsman (Libertarian) 149 (0.3%) New

Broxtowe - 53% Leave

Darren Henry (Con) 26,602 (48.1%) +1.3%
Greg Marshall (Lab) 21,271 (38.5%) -6.8%
Anna Soubry (Change) 4,668 (8.5%) New
Kat Boettge (Green) 1,806 (3.3%) +2.0%
Amy Dalla Mura (End Dem) 432 (0.8%) New
Teck Khong (Ind) 321 (0.6%) New
David Bishop (Elvis) 172 (0.3%) New

East Dunbartonshire - 73% Remain

Amy Callaghan (SNP) 19,672 (37.1%) +6.8%
Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) 19,523 (36.8%) -3.8%Pam Gosal (Con) 7,455 (14.1%) -0.5%
Callum McNally (Lab) 4,839 (9.1%) -5.4%
Carolynn Scrimgeour (Green) 916 (1.7%) New
Rosie Dickson (Ind) 221 (0.4%) New
David Murdo MacKay (UKIP) 208 (0.4%) New
Liam McKechnie (Family) 197 (0.4%) New

Redcar - 68% Leave

Jacob Young (Con) 18,811 (46.1%) +12.8%
Anna Turley (Lab) 15,289 (37.4%) -18.1%Jacqui Cummins (Brexit) 2,915 (7.1%) New
Karen King (Lib Dem) 2,018 (4.9%) -1.8%
Frankie Wales (Ind) 1,323 (3.2%) New
Rowan Mclaughlin (Green) 491 (1.2%) New

Derby North - 54% Leave

Amanda Solloway (Con) 21,259 (45.2) +0.8%
Tony Tinley (Lab) 18,719 (39.8%) -8.7%
Greg Webb (Lib Dem) 3,450 (7.3%) +2.7%
Alan Graves (Brexit) 1,908 (4.1%) New
Helen Hitchcock (Green) 1,046 (2.2%) New
Chris Williamson (Ind) 635 (1.4%) New

Friday, 13 December 2019

HOW THE MOST UNWANTED FARED

It's fair to say Labour got thumped, but how many of our most unwanted list actually got binned?  Last week we conducted a poll on our Facebook page and asked our supporters which one MP they'd most like to see lose their place on the gravy train.  Sadly, only three Labour MPs among the top twenty actually lost their seats, although most of the survivors saw their majorities slashed.  Non-Labour MPs Soubry, Chuka and Grieve did say farewell to Westminster.

1)   Anna Soubry - 234 votes (our prediction - gone)

Gone!  She finished a distant third in Broxtowe behind Labour and the Tories.  To add insult to injury the Tory candidate increased the Conservative majority from her 863 to more than 5,000.

2)   Diane Abbott - 231 (our prediction - safe as houses)

Safe!  Diane had a huge majority and she still has, albeit reduced by 2,000.

3)   Yvette Cooper - 137 (our prediction - under threat)

Safe!  Nearly, but not quite enough.  Her 14,499 majority was slashed to just 1,276.  Some have blamed the Brexit Party for her survival, but in actual fact they took thousands of votes off Cooper, not the Tories.  The Tory vote actually went up, while Cooper's plummeted by 11,000.

4)   John McDonnell - 103 (our prediction - likely safe)

Safe!  But he haemorrhaged more than 7,000 votes, halving his majority.

5)   Emily Thornberry - 65 (our prediction - safe as houses)

Safe!  She lost more than 3,000 votes, but still has a big majority.

6)   Dominic Grieve - 52 (our prediction - gone tomorrow)

Gone!  Finished an impressive second, beating Labour into third, but he was almost 16,000 behind his Tory replacement.

7)   Ian Blackford - 37 (our prediction - under threat)

Safe!  Despite many Tory and Labour voters switching to the Lib Dems in an attempt to unseat him, Blackford increased his majority by more than 3,000.

8)   Jess Phillips - 35 (our prediction - likely safe)

Safe!  Loudmouth Jess only lost a couple of thousand votes, but the Tories gained and slashed her majority by 6,000.  However, she still has a commanding majority of more than 10,000.

9)   Dave Lammy - 32 (our prediction - safe as houses)

Safe!  Still has a huge majority, albeit more than 4,000 votes lighter.

10) Hilary Benn - 15 (our prediction - safe as houses)

Safe!  Brexit blocking Benn saw his majority reduced by more than 4,000, but his Remain constituency comfortably re-elected him.

11) Laura Pidcock - 12 (our prediction - under threat)

Gone!  'Future leader' Pidcock was spectacularly binned as the Tories gained North West Durham for the first time in its 134 year history.

11) Barry Sheerman - 12 (our prediction - under threat)

Safe!  His majority was more than halved as all the other parties increased their vote.

11) Chuka Umunna - 12 (our prediction - gone tomorrow)

Gone!  Now a Lib Dem, Chuka ditched his Streatham constituency and stood in the Cities of London and Westminster.  He leapfrogged Labour into second, but the Tories extended their lead.

14) Richard Burgon - 11 (our prediction - safe as houses)

Safe!  All the other parties increased their votes in Leeds East, while Dickie's majority was more than halved.

15) Barry Gardiner - 10 (our prediction - likely safe)

Safe!  Expenses cheat Barry saw his majority slashed from 17,061 to just 8,079.

15) Angela Rayner - 10 (our prediction - likely safe)

Safe!  Her majority plummeted from 11,295 to just 4,263.

17) Dennis Skinner - 9 (our prediction - likely gone)

Gone!  The Barnacle had held this seat since 1970, albeit his majority had shrunk over the years.  The Tories had never won Bolsover in its 79 year history, but Skinner was toast and saw two of his ambitions go up in flames.  His defeat meant he lost the opportunity to become Father of the House (after Ken Clarke stood down) and also the record of being the oldest serving Member of Parliament.

18) Naz Shah - 8 (our prediction - safe as houses)

Safe!  One of the few Labour MPs to see her majority increase.  Of course it helps when your constituents vote twice and even the dead ones vote at least once.

18) Keir Starmer - 8 (our prediction - safe as houses)

Safe!  Had a huge majority, so he could afford to have it shaved by 3,000.

18) Anna Turley - 8 (our prediction - under threat)

Gone!  She was defending a 9,485 majority, but the Remainer bit the dust as Redcar went blue for the first time its 45 year history.

18) Karl Turner - 8 (our prediction - under threat)

Safe!  But only just.  His 10,396 majority plummeted to just 1,239 as the Brexit Party took thousands of votes from Labour, just not quite enough to turn the seat Tory blue.

Wednesday, 14 August 2019

TURLEY'S BREXIT MYTHS


Redcar MP Anna Turley has been espousing the myth of a 'Tory right-wing Brexit'.  There is nothing particularly 'Tory' or 'right-wing' about Brexit.  It is simply the implementation of the Leave mandate handed to Parliament.  Labour agreed to hold the 2016 referendum, along with every other party (except the SNP), so what is she saying?  Is it that the result itself was facilitated by Tories?  If so this is a huge insult to swathes of working class voters who have never voted Tory in their lives, but who backed Brexit.  LBC's Iain Dale took exception to her posturing and the pair became embroiled in a lengthy Twitter exchange.


A nerve was clearly touched as Turley went on to engage other Twitter users on the same thread.



As Twitter user Joe Elliott pointed out, Turley's anti-Brexit stance directly contradicts what she was saying two years ago.  She didn't respond to this tweet, but it tickled George Galloway.