Bye, Tories, don’t let the door hit you on the way out
After 14 long years, I hope that this is the last time I will write about the Tory Party as the party in power, ever.
But just in case their names crop up in the future, and lest we forget, here’s an aide-memoire.
This article is about individuals and their fate in the General Election, if they ran. I’ll have other things to say about the election. American readers, please do not adjust your set. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
Tories who lost their seats in the General Election
Robert Buckland, a knight, was Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, and previously Secretary of State for Wales and justice secretary. Of his fellow Tory MPs he said he was “fed up of personal agendas and jockeying for position”.
Penny Mordaunt was Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. Only 4 days into the job she achieved fame for presiding over the Accession Council ceremony of King Charles III then carrying the sword at his coronation. She was previously the first female Minister of State for the Armed Forces and Secretary of State for Defence. She supported Brexit. She narrowly lost her seat in the election.
Grant Shapps held a variety of positions, ending up as Secretary of State for Defence. He lost his seat in the election. He had second job using an alias as ‘millionaire web marketer’ while MP. He was opposed to emissions-reducing measures.
Justin Tomlinson was Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, but he lost.
Johnny Mercer, a veteran who served in Afghanistan, has been Minister of State for Veterans’ Affairs. He was opposed to Brexit. He disagreed with the Overseas Operations Bill which protected soldiers who served abroad from prosecution but not those who served in Northern Ireland. During the campaign he criticised the military service of his opponent. He lost.
Jacob Rees-Mogg was knighted for party loyalty and for trying to act like an 18th century toff. He, too, has held various positions. He’s a climate denier. He is famous for a picture of him reclining on the bench of House of Commons during a debate about Brexit. He was strongly pro Brexit. At one time he was Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency. He said that British fish are ‘happier’ because of the Brexit deal. He was very critical of civil servants and was against them working from home. He lost.
Therese Coffey (a Dame from 4 July 2024) was Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Secretary, Health Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary. When at DWP she planned to allow people to obtain antibiotics from pharmacists without a prescription, and shared antibiotics with others, acts which increase the risk of antimicrobial resistance. At DEFRA she suggested that the poor eat turnips instead of tomatoes (turnips weren’t in season). She said she was ‘entirely happy’ with slashing Universal Credit for millions. She lost.
Mark Harper was Chair of the COVID Recovery Group, when he pushed for looser restrictions. As Immigration Minister, he used vans with hoardings saying “Here Illegally? Go Home or Risk Arrest”. His self-employed cleaner didn’t have permission to work in the UK. As Secretary of State for Transport he spoke against anti-pollution policies and 15-minute cities. He told the railways to cut costs, so they planned to close almost all station ticket offices, making hundreds of staff redundant. As Minister of State for Disabled People he failed to make the cuts required of him — but that may have been a good thing for the disabled. His constituency office did not have disabled access. He oversaw considerable reductions in backlogs.
Steve Baker was Minister of State for Northern Ireland and Minister of State at the Cabinet Office. He’s another eurosceptic. As a minister in the Department for Exiting the European Union he confirmed Jacob Rees-Mogg’s claim that that Charles Grant, the Director of the Centre for European Reform, had reported that Treasury officials “had deliberately developed a model to show that all options other than staying in the customs union were bad, and that officials intended to use this to influence policy”. Audio proved that it was not true. He’s another climate change denier. He lost, saying, “thank God I’m a free man”. (If he wanted to break free, why did he run?)
Miriam Cates. Previously pro-EU, she became a Brexiteer. She supports Suella Braverman’s extremist views.
Greg Hands was Minister of State for Trade Policy. He voted remain, but switched sides during the reshuffle after the referendum. He lost by 152 votes.
Alex Chalk’s last role was as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. Apart from voting with the Tories (a big caveat), his record was not bad.
Liam Fox, a knight, was Secretary of State for International Trade under Theresa May. He lost by 639 votes. In 2009 he over-claimed his expenses and had to pay a lot back. In 2011 as Defence secretary he gave a lobbyist friend too much access and trips. He was for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He supported the war in Afghanistan. He voted against same-sex marriage. He was for Brexit and against free movement. In 2010 as Secretary of State for Defence he said, “We don’t have the money as a country to protect ourselves against every potential future threat,” yet he oversaw cuts. As Secretary of State for International Trade he acknowledged “shared values” with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
Gillian Keegan was Secretary of State for Education. She apparently suggested that headteachers should round up absent pupils from their homes.
Lucy Frazer was Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, having previously been Solicitor General for England and Wales, Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, Minister of State for Transport and Minister of State for Housing and Planning.
Simon Hart was Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury.
David TC Davies was Secretary of State for Wales and a Brexiteer. He was formerly a climate denier, falsely claiming that “in the 1970s, everyone was predicting a forthcoming ice age”. He thinks most immigrants are “young men, mostly with mobile phones, chancing their luck” and suggested that they should have dental checks to determine their age.
Victoria Prentis was Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland. She preferred to remain and reform rather than leave Europe.
Michelle Donelan was Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. She was a remainer. She falsely claimed that two academics on a UKRI advisory group had expressed sympathy for Hamas and that they were extremists.
Those who left early
Nadine Dorries left early. Although she resigned “with immediate effect”, she hung on for nearly 3 months. She had not turned up for work for a year. She was most recently Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. She neglected her work to appear on “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! “ and did not even tell the chief whip. She has been in trouble over her expenses several times. She was pro Brexit. She tried to privatise Channel 4, saying it was publicly funded when in fact it is funded by ads. She threw a tantrum when she was not made a peer.
Nigel Adams voted against an amendment that required private landlords to make their homes “fit for human habitation” — he rents out property. He was pro Brexit.
Chris Skidmore signed the UK’s Net Zero pledge into law. He resigned because he objected to the government’s Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.
Chris Pincher got into trouble for allegedly groping two men while he was drunk and had the Conservative whip removed. The Commons Select Committee on Standards recommended Pincher be suspended from Parliament for eight weeks, and he resigned.
Rats deserting the sinking ship, and those who may have more honorable reasons for stepping down
A record number of Conservative MPs did not run for re-election.
Michael Gove was Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. He axed Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme when he was Secretary of State for Education, and now schools are crumbling. He did a better job as Environment secretary but was against declaring a climate emergency. He was involved in setting COVID rules. He acted unlawfully when he awarded a COVID-19 contract without a tender to a polling company owned by long-term associates of his and Dominic Cummings.
Andrea Leadsom, a Dame, was part of the Leave campaign. She has had a variety of positions in cabinet.
Theresa May was prime minister from 13 July 2016 to 24 July 2019. She supported Remain, but as PM began the process of withdrawing the UK from the EU. She called a snap election hoping to strengthen her hand, but instead there was a hung parliament. Her draft withdrawal agreement was rejected by Parliament. She was given a peerage on 4 July 2024.
Sajid Javid held several jobs including Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was a remainer. He resigned from the treasury because Dominic Cummings had already fired one of his advisors and Boris Johnson wanted him to fire the rest. As Health Minister he was keen to end restrictions. He resigned his position as he had lost confidence in Johnson.
Dominic Raab was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Justice Secretary, Brexit Secretary and Lord Chancellor a well as other roles. When he was First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary, he remained on holiday in Crete while Kabul fell to the Taliban. He resigned from government in April 2023 after he was found to have bullied civil servants.
Matt Hancock ended up as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Hancock oversaw PPE procurement during COVID, which resulted in massive fraud and cronyism and waste. Against COVID restrictions, he conducted an extramarital affair in his office. He appeared on “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!”. Like Johnson, he claimed that it was possible to introduce vaccines quickly because of Brexit. In fact, Brexit made no difference. Hancock unlawfully OK’d discharging people into care homes without testing, leading to many unnecessary deaths.
Ben Wallace served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2019 to 2023 so he was heavily involved in decisions concerning Ukraine. He lasted a lot longer in the cabinet than most. He was made a knight on 4th July 2024.
Nadhim Zahawi held a variety of offices from 15 September 2021 to 29 January 2023. He was dismissed by Sunak because, while Chancellor of the Exchequer under Johnson, he had failed to disclose that he was being investigated by HM Revenue and Customs. He founded YouGov.
John Redwood has long been out of office while remaining an MP. He was pro Brexit.
Sir Alok Sharma was the President of COP26 after several other roles. He was a remainer. He was made a KCMG for services to tackling climate change and nominated for a life peerage on 4 July 2024 but was reinstated 4 days later when Sunak became PM..
Chris Heaton-Harris was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He’s a Eurosceptic, was a chair of the European Research Group and tried to interfere in the academic freedom of lecturers on Brexit. He appeared to support climate denial.
Alister Jack placed bets on the date of the election but was knighted nevertheless. As Secretary of State for Scotland he blocked the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
Theresa Villiers was a Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs until 13 February 2020. She supported Brexit. She supported a ban on the import of chlorinated chicken products from the US. She failed to declare she held shares in Shell while serving as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Kwasi Kwarteng introduced a disastrous mini-budget with liz Truss when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. The pound sterling fell to its lowest-ever level against the United States dollar.
Those who survived
If past years are to go by, many of these will now be eying leadership of the party, as Sunak has indicated that he will resign once the dust settles.
Richard Holden is Chairman of the Conservative Party. He won re-election by a mere 20 votes after 2 recounts. He successfully campaigned for a reduction in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) on new motorhomes, and for a new lower duty for beer sold on draught in pubs. He was the one who got the police to investigate whether Starmer having beer and a takeaway while working with colleagues broke the COVID rules — they determined that they did not in this case, unlike the partying that went on in Downing Street. He claimed he was “bloody loyal to the north-east” but took what was supposed to be a safe seat in Essex.
Suella Braverman was Home Secretary. She resigned as home secretary on 19 October 2022 after breaking the Ministerial Code by sending a Cabinet document using her personal email address but was reinstated 6 days later by the new PM, Sunak. She is pro Brexit. She is also for withdrawing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights and sending immigrants to Rwanda. She has criticised multiculturalism. She has been tipped to run to replace Sunak.
Steve Barclay’s final role was Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (Environment secretary). This included overseeing water quality, while his wife was an executive of one of the water companies adding to the water quality crisis. He did announce a ban on polluting water company executives’ bonuses, however. As Health Secretary he planned to open more than 50 new surgical hubs in England to help tackle a backlog of treatments following the COVID-19 pandemic. He also spent time as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.
Mel Stride was Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after several other roles. He has promoted helping people back into work, but has also made the sick and unemployed jump through more hoops, causing considerable unnecessary distress.
Jeremy Hunt’s most recent role was Chancellor of the Exchequer. He’s one of the UK’s richest politicians. He falsely claimed that NHS consultants were not working on non-emergency cases at the weekend, causing “about 6,000 avoidable deaths”. This led to the “Hunt Effect” where patients were deterred from going to hospital at weekends. Tories had promised a “truly seven-day NHS” then realised that the staff and funding were not available. He imposed a controversial new junior NHS England doctors’ contract when junior doctors were striking and stopped talking with them. As foreign secretary he supported the military intervention in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia. He rejected ending the UK’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and wanted Germany to lift their ban. He was against Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981. He likened the European Union to the former USSR, and to a prison. As Chancellor of the Exchequer he reversed most of Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget and became very powerful. He won by a mere 891 votes, despite everyone in Westminster assuming he was a goner. He would have been the first chancellor in modern history to lose his seat.
Oliver Dowden’s latest role was Deputy Prime Minister. He opposed Brexit. He supported the arts during COVID. He’s anti-woke. On 4 July 2024, Dowden was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (KCB).
Robert Jenrick was Minister of State for Immigration from 2022 to 2023 after a variety of previous roles. He resigned that role over the Rwanda Policy — not that he disagreed with it, but that he thought it did not go far enough. The policy involved breaking international law and human rights and sending ‘illegal immigrants’ to Rwanda at considerable taxpayer expense, declaring in law that Rwanda to be a safe country despite evidence to the contrary. Fortunately it will not now happen, but our reputation for justice has been tarnished. He also leased the Bibby Stockholm to imprison illegal immigrants. He won by 3,572 votes. He may run for party leadership.
Iain Duncan Smith is a former Leader of the Conservative Party. As Secretary of State for Work and Pensions he looked at “how to make it harder for sick and disabled people to claim benefits” (a policy that Mel Stride later followed). He introduced Universal Credit. The cost of introducing it ballooned and it is taking a lot longer than expected. His department wasted £34 million on inadequate computer systems. Some people his department declared fit for work died shortly afterwards. He worked with the Vote Leave campaign. Despite all this, he was rewarded with a knighthood. The Labour vote against him was split as an ousted candidate ran as an independent.
Chris Philp’s most recent role was Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire. He replaced Kwasi Kwarteng as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the disastrous “mini-budget”. He was against Brexit prior to the referendum. He was not predicted to win, but did.
Rishi Sunak is not only the Prime Minister who was at the helm when the Tories were trounced, but did considerable damage in previous roles. Educated at an independent school and at Oxford and Stanford, and with a background in hedge fund management, he was badly out of touch with the values of most Brits. He supported Brexit. During COVID his ‘eat out to help out’ scheme encouraged people to infect each other — the Chief Scientific Adviser and the Chief Medical Adviser were not informed. He repeatedly made many false claims about Tory achievements and much of his reelection campaign was fearmongering rather than positive. The police issued him with a fixed penalty notice as a result of his rule-breaking during Partygate. While he did impose a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies, it was full of loopholes and he gave out taxpayer money to households so they could pay the over-inflated prices. His family wealth brought conflicts of interest, and he did not always report it. His wife claimed non-dom status until it was exposed. He held United States’ permanent resident (green card) status when he became chancelor.
Esther McVey’s final position was informally known as “Minster for Common Sense” (i.e. anti-woke). She accepted a job at GB News while she was still the housing minister. She was against COVID lockdown measures.
Mark Francois is chair of the European Research Group (eurosceptics). He voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal all three times.
James Cleverly was home secretary, having been Foreign Secretary and Education Secretary. He was pro Brexit and for sending immigrants to Rwanda and for raising the threshold for family visas for legal immigrants. He called comparing Saudi Arabia to Russia “ridiculously distasteful”, Saudi Arabia being a “significant oil and gas producer.” He’s pro China and pro Israel, rejecting calls for a ceasefire. He joked about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug.
Victoria Atkins ended up as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. She was accused of conflicts of interest as her husband is managing director of British Sugar which was growing non-psychedelic cannabis under licence for medical purposes when she was drugs minister but she has prosecuted people for drugs. She opposed Brexit but most in her constituency did not.
Kemi Badenoch was Secretary of State for Business and Trade prior to the 2024 election and President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities. She was for Brexit. She said the target of net zero carbon emissions was “ill-thought through”. She planned to reduce the number of laws to be repealed after brexit from 4,000 to around 800. She is anti-woke and against the teaching of white privilege and similar “elements of critical race theory”. She has a poor record on LGBT rights. She has been tipped to run for party leadership.
John Glen was Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General. He’s a Eurosceptic but was a “reluctant Remainer” for the referendum.
Tom Tugendhat was Minister of State for Security. He is hawkish on China, who have banned him. He allowed protests during the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla to be permitted. He supports Israel. He also is someone tipped to run for the party leadership.
Claire Coutinho was Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and is a former investment banker. She is strongly pro Brexit. Like Sunak, she seems to be in favour of slowing down net zero rather than helping families with the short term costs.
Laura Trott was Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She claimed debt as a percentage of GDP was falling when it was not.
Andrew Mitchell was Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Minister of State for Development and Africa after a variety of roles. His interaction with a police officer led to Plebgate.
Priti Patel was Home Secretary until 6 September 2022. Home Office chief Sir Philip Rutnam alleged that she ran a ‘vicious and orchestrated campaign’ against him — it cost taxpayers £370,000 to settle. She engaged in anti-lawyer rhetoric even after a Met warning on terror. She received donations from people wanting to profit from the NHS. She introduced the draconian new Police Powers Bill. She is alleged to have lobbied for a PPE contract for a donor. She was advised against the Rwanda plan. Sunal approved Boris Johnson’s damehood for her. She is tipped to run for party leadership.
Other Tories who may turn up again
Boris Johnson was PM from 24 July 2019 to 6 September 2022. He lied the country into Brexit without thinking the consequences through. He unlawfully prorogued parliament. He has repeatedly credited Brexit with enabling him to arrange covid vaccines faster than most (the only good thing he did) but it was not true. He has been accused of lying at various stages of his career. He has been accused of sexism and of having affairs. He was credited with a landslide for conservatives in the 2019 election and some Tories called for him to return in the hope of winning in 2024 too, despite all his baggage. Partygate happened on his watch and he received a fixed penalty notice. After he appointed Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip of the party while knowing of allegations of sexual misconduct there was a mass resignation of members of his government and Johnson resigned.
David Cameron, a baron, was prime minister from 11 May 2010 to 13 July 2016. He was also Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs from 13 November 2023 to 5 July 2024. He introduced austerity to combat the after effects of the 2008 crash. He privatised Royal Mail. He legalised same-sex marriage in the UK. He introduced the referendum on Brexit. He was a remainer and resigned when Brexit won. He was implicated in the Greensill scandal.