It never rains but it pours for poor Rishi Sunak. After a difficult start for his election campaign, the Prime Minister tried to steal a march on his Labour opponents by proposing the reintroduction of a form of national service. One person he would presumably now like to conscript is Lucy Allan, the longtime Telford trouble-maker. Having been elected in 2015, Allan announced last June that she intended to stand down as an MP.
Unfortunately for Sunak she has decided to mark her leaving this week with a final two-fingered salute at the Tory leader. In a statement posted on Twitter/X today, she announced that she was supporting the local Reform candidate in her Shropshire seat and shared his campaign details online. ‘I am supporting Alan Adams to be Telford’s next MP’ she wrote. ‘If you want to help Alan or donate to his campaign, sign up on his website.’ A gleeful Richard Tice duly declared that he was ‘delighted’ to welcome Allan into his ranks.
Moments later came the inevitable news that Allan – who remains an MP until the dissolution of parliament on Thursday – had been suspended by the Tories. A Conservative party spokesman told Steerpike that:
Lucy Allan has been suspended from the party with immediate effect. The people of Telford now have the chance to vote for a dedicated and hardworking new candidate who will put Telford first. A vote for Reform is a vote for Keir Starmer.
Still, at least Reform can boast two MPs – for now at least…
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