Tory Minister inflates variety of Labour MPs quitting as his celebration faces exodus

A Tory Minister tried to magnify the variety of Labour MPs quitting on the subsequent election as his personal colleagues give up of their droves.

Treasury Minister Gareth Johnson was challenged by Sky News presenter Anna Jones on whether or not panicking Conservatives are falling by the wayside as a result of they worry electoral wipeout. It comes as former Prime Minister Theresa May grew to become the most recent Tory to verify she is going to step down on the subsequent election.

Some 59 Conservatives and former Tories who’ve misplaced the whip have stated they will not combat the subsequent election. Five others have stated they will not stand of their seats – however might discover one other constituency.

Presenter Anna Jones pointed to the information that Ms May will give up on the subsequent election, telling the minister: “I think that makes it close to 60 Tory MPs – that’s around a sixth of the party choosing to stand down at the next election. It sounds like there are a lot of Tory MPs that have made their minds up about the party’s prospects at the next election.”

He replied: “I think there’s nearly 50 Labour MPs as well, just to be completely balanced about this. This is what happens when you approach a new election and completely reasonable for people to decide that it’s time to go, particularly when they’ve been in the House of Commons for a long time and each one has made their own decision for personal reasons and I respect every single person’s decision to do so.”

In an embarrassing blunder for a minister tasked with being across the numbers, only 17 Labour MPs have said they are quitting. Another two MPs who have lost the Labour whip are also stepping down.

The presenter later challenged him on the figure he spouted, saying: “I’m just going to pick you up on something you said earlier. The number of Labour MPs standing down at the next election is more like 17 rather than closer to 50.” Mr Davies stated they need to “maybe have a look” on the quantity because the interview drew to a detailed.