Photo shows off duty guide dog Jennie having a cuddle with our editor at last year’s Social Liberal Forum dinner.
Parliament is back and we will be bringing you news of what our 72 Lib Dem MPs are getting up to. Seventeen of our new intake made their maiden speeches in the few days the House of Commons was sitting before recess started at the end of July so that means we have forty to go.
We will also be covering the activities of the most lovable member of our Parliamentary team, Jennie. The golden retriever is the guide dog of our new MP for Torbay, Steve Darling.
Just after the election, someone set up a Twitter account in her name which quickly amassed over 18,000 followers.
Now Jennie’s adoring team has set up an official account which will be updated on a regular basis.
It’s good to see that she is settling in to her new surroundings at Westminster:
Back up in Westminster after a glorious August in Torbay. At last my owner now has an office so I’m starting to fill it with dog toys… pic.twitter.com/1F8wFMYOtC
— RtHonJennieOffical (@RtHonJen) September 2, 2024
The embedded tweet shows Jennie the guide dog playing with a red toy in her new office. She says
Back up in Westminster after a glorious August in Torbay. At last my owner now has an office so I’m starting to fill it with dog toys…
Make sure you don’t miss any of the official updates from Jennie by following her here.
Update:
Jennie even seems to have melted Kay Burley’s heart. Steve and Jennie were on her Sky News show this morning ad Kay Burley spent the entire time petting Jennie. Watch here.
The @RtHonJen is Westminster’s new superstar, and the Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay @SteveDarlingMP reveals to @KayBurley that she even has international fans 🐶https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/qrFtbrUOFL
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 3, 2024
Steve talked about how Jennie wowed local residents at his surgeries, how she had escaped from a surgery to join a children’s group and how people are always stopping to talk to her in Westminster. Steve said she lit up the place, with big scary men and ladies with guns gazing at her like she was her firstborn. He’s been approached by people as far away as Mexico for selfies with Jennie. And, evidently scary Sky News anchors as well.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Why non-fiction books need their indexes
Changes in status: Local Elections wrap up
What should the Liberal Democrats stand for?
Ben Wood
Ed Sanderson
Jack
Matt (Bristol)
John Grout
4 Comments
I assume, very sensibly, that Ed Davey is allowing new members to get settled in before expanding the Shadow Cabinet (and we should absolutely call it that again). When he does though, I do hope Jennie will become at the very least a PPS. I would suggest she shadow Larry, but I believe he’s technically a civil servant.
I wonder if she could shadow the new kitten who seems to be a political appointee.
People (and dogs…) should be leaving X, not joining it!
Larry is the official cat at number 10. The chief mouser