Rishi Sunak has received another setback from a fellow member of his party as a departing Conservative MP shifts his support to the Labour party. Mark Logan, the former representative of Bolton North East, stated that the Conservative party has moved so far from its roots that he hardly recognises it since he joined ten years ago. He added that he believes Labour has the potential to restore positivity in British society.
This statement marks another bad day for Rishi Sunak, who revealed he had received a police fine related to Partygate, having attended a meeting very early on. Even though Mark Logan is retiring, it is essentially another transition to labour, with Natalie Elphicke, Dan Poulter and Christian Wakeford having already followed this path this year. This week, Lucy Allan, the outgoing Tory MP for Telford, pledged her support to Reform.
Mark Logan, a Brexit backer who was the representative of one of the UK’s most contentious constituencies, having won by a margin of just 378 votes in 2019, stated in a BBC interview that he was seeking to join Labour and did not rule out the possibility of running in the future.
Reflecting on his younger years, he compared the current political situation to that of 1997 when Labour’s entry led to a wave of optimism. Mr Logan referred to the popular sentiment encapsulated in the song “Things Can Only Get Better” at the time of Tony Blair’s overwhelming victory.
Prior to Logan’s revelation, Sunak faced the toughest question of the general election campaign while addressing employees at Niftylift, a cherrypicker-producing company in Milton Keynes’s vicinity. During the exchange, a 35-year-old health and safety officer named Nick Fox questioned Sunak’s trustworthiness given the events surrounding Boris Johnson’s birthday party.
In the past, Sunak extended an “unconditional apology” for his participation in the celebrations, which led to his police fine in 2022. However, when questioned about the incident, he seemed to downplay the reasons behind the fine. He expressed condolences to Mr Fox, acknowledging the widespread hardship during the pandemic.
“I find it hard to fathom how difficult it must’ve been for you, unable to be with her during that period. It’s truly challenging.
“I regret the occurrences at Downing Street. As for my presence at the meeting, I extend my apology for that.”
He further highlighted his crucial role in the introduction of the furlough scheme amidst the pandemic.
[ What triggered Rishi Sunak to precipitate an early election? ]
Later, Mr Fox shared with the PA Media news agency his scepticism of the prime minister’s response.
“He alluded to hardships and such, but they haven’t made sacrifices. There’s an abundance of contracts handed out to their acquaintances,” he remarked.
“His apology is not acknowledged. I wasn’t seeking an apology either.”
He expressed his lack of surprise upon learning about the gatherings at Downing Street around the time his mother, Christine Fox, passed away at age 66.
“I believe it was evident that such things would transpire. It appeared to be a scenario of different rules for us and them.”
Sarah Olney, from the Liberal Democrats serving as the Treasury spokesperson, commented, “Rishi Sunak will be remembered as the Chancellor connected with the Partygate scandal.
“Sunak’s role in Boris Johnson’s deceptive and law-breaking government won’t easily be overlooked by people across the country.” – Guardian”