Our newest MP has been talking to the Guardian about her landslide victory in leafy Buckinghamshire. She told political correspondent Peter Walker that the Conservative voters in Chesham and Amersham felt ignored by the Tories. They felt they could no longer relate to Boris Johnson and the Conservative party.
The overarching theme was people feeling taken for granted, being ignored. With some people it was about Boris himself, with others the phrase was ‘snouts in a trough’. One of our canvassers heard a conversation where someone said: ‘All you need is Boris Johnson’s mobile phone number and you’re sorted.’
My impression was that this dissatisfaction with the Conservative party, and the Conservative government, had many layers to it. I think my favourite phrase – and two people said it to me – was ‘it’s just not cricket’. It’s this idea that this is not a Conservative party they associate themselves with.
Green told the newspaper that she was conscious of holding the torch for a political party that once again had been written off by many.
It’s a wonderful thing to think you’ve changed the narrative. That feels good.
The article also features quotes from Daisy Cooper and Layla Moran.
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One Comment
It was very heartening to see all those orange diamond stake-boards. Not a single Conservative one; I think Tory supporters were too ashamed to display them.
On the street and in their gardens people were very friendly; they probably saw the Sarah sticker I was wearing. Several times I was told explicitly that they were voting for us.
One elderly guy (probably about the same age as me) came to his front door waving the leaflet I had just delivered. I thought he was going to give me a hard time. But he told me that he and his wife had voted Conservative all their lives – but no longer. They had lost all respect for them and were now voting for us.