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11-02-2025
LONDON: A British junior minister was sacked by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday and suspended from the governing Labour Party over WhatsApp messages which the minister said were “badly misjudged”.
Andrew Gwynne, who was a health minister, apologized on social media platform X following a report by the Mail on Sunday that he had sent WhatsApp messages insulting constituents and other members of parliament.
“I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologize for any offense I’ve caused,” he said. “I entirely understand the decisions the PM (prime minister) and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can.”
A government spokesperson said Starmer was determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office.
“He will not hesitate to take action against any minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has in this case,” the spokesperson said.
Labour won a large majority in an election last July but opinion polls show its popularity has fallen since then, with the party struggling after early missteps over donations and to boost economic growth.
Tulip Siddiq resigned as minister responsible for financial services and fighting corruption last month after questions over her financial ties to Sheikh Hasina, ousted last year as prime minister of Bangladesh. Siddiq denies wrongdoing.
Louise Haigh stepped down as transport minister in November after she acknowledged a minor criminal offence before she entered government, relating to a mobile phone that she had wrongly reported stolen.
Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party overtook Britain’s governing Labour Party to become the country’s most popular political party in a new poll, reflecting public discontent in Prime Minister Keir Starmer less than seven months into his term.
The poll, conducted by YouGov for the Times newspaper and published on Monday, showed that if a general election were held tomorrow 25% of British voters would choose Reform, 24% would pick Labour, and 21% would vote for the Conservatives.
Reform’s narrow lead over Labour in the poll which surveyed 2,465 people over Feb. 2-3 – is within the margin of error, YouGov said.
Starmer, who led Labour into a landslide win in last year’s election and ended 14 years of Conservative rule, has suffered a number of early setbacks, most notably the fallout of a tax-raising budget. A sluggish economy has also plagued the new government.
On the other hand, Farage’s populist views have helped his party gain ground over Britain’s two major political parties.
Farage, a friend of US President Donald Trump, was one of the leading campaigners for Britain to leave the European Union in 2016, and supports reduced immigration and lower taxes.
Britain’s ‘first past the post’ electoral system meant Reform won just five out of the 650 parliamentary seats in last year’s national election, despite a 14.3% overall vote share. Labour’s landslide 63.2% seat share came on a vote share of 33.7%.
“Britain wants Reform,” Farage said on social media platform X on Monday, posting the latest poll.
Labour dropped three points since the last survey conducted on Jan. 26-27, while Reform gained two points. The Conservatives, one of the world’s oldest political parties fell further behind under leader Kemi Badenoch, losing one point in the poll. In July, they recorded their worst ever election performance under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
