If anyone is wondering who is No 10’s least favourite MP today, Mr Steerpike’s money is firmly on former education minister Justine Greening. The Remainer MP has been a thorn in Theresa May’s side as of late, but she ramped up the disloyalty this Budget day, when she told told ITV’s Good Morning that she would quite like to take over Theresa May’s job:
This is the moment Justine Greening MP said she would like to take control of Number 10, replacing Theresa May with herself as PM. pic.twitter.com/z2ibwbxJnd
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) October 29, 2018
Greening has been hinting for some time that she considered herself leadership material. In August this year, the MP released a set of professionally shot videos and photographs which had all the hallmarks of a personal campaign.
Officially, the promotional materials were made to support ‘The Social Mobility Pledge’ a charity which aims to get businesses to support social mobility in the UK. But while the ‘Pledge’ didn’t get much of a mention, there was plenty of coverage showing off Greening’s personal qualities and ideas.
The pictures, shot by Greening’s ‘official photographer’ showed her visiting battleground areas such as Glasgow and Bury to drum up support for the policy.
She went to great lengths in the videos to establish her ‘back story’ – a staple of the leadership circuit. In one, she described her own comprehensive education:
‘Like most people, I didn’t go to private school. My comprehensive was a very different place. We certainly weren’t taught that we were born to rule and we weren’t taught that being confident was a way to guarantee success’
In another, she told of her dream of running a business:
‘It wasn’t just about making money, I wanted to create some jobs that otherwise wouldn’t have been there, and just maybe, make a difference’
One candid shot was even captioned by what looked remarkably like a slogan for national change:
‘The challenges we face as a nation are very different, but the opportunity is the same. Find out more about the Social Mobility Pledge by clicking on the link in my bio. J x’
It’s not unusual for the knives to be out for Theresa May, but it seems to Mr S that Greening has been sharpening hers for some time…
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