PM’S ‘snub’ of Red Wall event showed ‘contempt for North’
ANGRY Tory MPS last night accused Boris Johnson of showing “contempt for the North” after he cancelled a speech at a landmark Red Wall conference, to visit Ukraine instead.
They reacted with fury to the Prime Minister’s “snub” as leading backbencher Tom Tugendhat used the event to throw his hat into the ring for the party leadership.
The PM was due to attend the inaugural gathering of the Northern Research Group, made up of MPS whose seats the Conservatives won from Labour at the 2019 election.
But he pulled out just hours before he was supposed to give a keynote address and later announced he had travelled to Kyiv to meet Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.
His decision to skip the event in Doncaster and a campaign visit in nearby Yorkshire town Wakefield, where the Tories face a by-election mauling next week, sparked another Tory row.
One senior member of the Northern Research Group said its MPS had backed him in the confidence vote but he has now “burnt through colleagues’ goodwill” with the no-show.
“He is clearly scared of voters, and holds his colleagues, and the North of England in contempt,” they said.
MPS attending the conference at Doncaster Racecourse were told as they arrived yesterday morning that Mr Johnson was on the train.
One called his decision to swerve the event a “snub” while another said it showed “how little Boris cares about his colleagues”. It is claimed his appearance at the event had been pencilled in at least a week ago.
Allies of the PM defended his decision to head to Kyiv instead and suggested his critics were overreacting.
Simon Clarke, First Secretary to the Treasury, whose seat is in Middlesbrough, said: “I think people seriously need to check their priorities.”
Ben Houchen, the Tory mayor for Tees Valley, added: “Ukraine’s fight against Russia is absolutely more important than the PM attending a conference of Red Wall Tory politicians.”
The row will add to growing unrest within the party at Mr Johnson, with leadership rivals now openly circling and canvassing support.
Mr Tugendhat, who was called up for a Q&A session because of the PM’S noshow, seized the opportunity to declare his interest.
The backbencher said he “won’t rule out” a tilt at becoming the next Prime Minister and politicians should have the “guts” to put themselves forward.