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this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2024
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As much as I disliked Cameron's government at the time, I don't think it was close to the levels of nationalism and right-wing ideals we see from today's Conservative party. I rarely agreed with their approach, but I could at least understand that there were genuinely good-faith Tory MPs back then who simply had a different approach to things than what I would have wanted to see. Maybe they were just better at hiding it, but they did feel less sleazy and corrupt, and more like they actually wanted to work towards changing things for the better rather than just tearing everything down and lining their own pockets.
If this was 2017 I'd be inclined to agree. But this guy looked at Johnson and thought he was suitable, and stayed as the wheels fell off. He continued with Truss as the cart exploded, and didn't think about jumping off.
But now?
Well, if he's had some sort of damascene conversion then good for him, but you might as well call me Thomas cos I'm fucking sceptical.
Well, if he's had some sort of damascene conversion then good for him, but you might as well call me Thomas cos I'm fucking sceptical.
He realised that £90k is one heck of a drug and wants that ride to never stop!
I don't think it's that, considering he's standing down at the next election anyway:
He said he would not seek re-election to the House of Commons at the next general election. But, writing in the Observer, he says he envisages a role advising the Labour party on its policies on mental health while focusing more on his NHS work.
Whether that advisory role would be paid or not, I don't know, but it certainly wouldn't be to the tune of £90K!
Interesting 🤔. Thanks for the clarification.
Out of interest do the Labour party publish stats on how much they pay advisors? Or might they do that when in government since he'll be a government advisor at that stage? If assume an advisor is on a pretty decent wedge.
I'd assume we'd have to wait until he was an actual government advisor before we got any figures (if at all). And yeah, advisors can do pretty well for themselves, although how much they get paid depends on how involved they are. Advisory roles can range from full-time consulting roles and helping with policy creation to "hey, can you just spend a couple of hours reading through these documents and give us your thoughts?" once every few months.
You can see the pay for the government's special advisors (ie, the top tier of advisors) here if you're interested. Bear in mind those are in the top, top tier of advisors so most aren't necessarily going to be paid that much.
That's a lot of money on SPADs! And also of note, zero diversity in that list 😔.
It certainly is a lot, although it's the sort of thing where, when you really think about it, you'd kinda hope it's something the government is willing to spend money on. You don't want all the best and brightest just going to private companies because they can earn 3x as much as the government is willing to pay. (Whether the current SPADs are the best and brightest, I don't know... If they are, it's certainly not reflected in the government's decision-making! But I think the point still stands that there needs to be a financial motivation for talented people to work in government rather than private businesses.)
Yeah, the diversity looks pretty bad...
Maybe the ghosts of general elections past, present, and future came to visit him. I too find it extremely odd that only now has he decided to switch parties.
Yep. You know it’s bad when you say “Cameron wasn’t that bad”, I also share your views.
The only reason the brexit vote happened at all was because Cameron needed to keep the right wing lunatics on side. So it is safe to say they've been hanging around in the party for a while, only Cameron successfully kept them down for the most part, whereas May failed, Johnson encouraged them, Truss was one of them, and Sunak is just pathetic and gives into everyone.
Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg and the BBC, Dr. Poulter said:
“I found it increasingly difficult to look my NHS colleagues in the eye and my patients in the eye and my constituents in the eye with good conscience.
“And I feel that the NHS deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how it’s run and governed.
“The party I was elected into valued public services, it had a compassionate view about supporting the more disadvantaged in society. I think the Conservative Party today is in a very different place. Its focus is not on delivering or supporting high-quality public services.”
The party I was elected into valued public services, it had a compassionate view about supporting the more disadvantaged in society.
Reading that got me the closest to a hearty laugh I've got in a while..
He's in about as much denial of what Tories stand for, as he is about what Starmer's Labour stand for (it's definitely not re-nationalising the NHS, it's barely even committing to do anything about its state at all), and is only making the jump to make himself feel better (and apparently be able to look NHS workers in the eye, don't think this move'll help much with that), not because he has any genuine concerns about the NHS.
Fuck these people using most of ours last life line as a political football none of them actually give a shit about. How anyone still believes these self serving career liars is beyond me..
Top rat flees sinking ship
This one feels a little different. He stated previously that he was going to stand down at the next election, which is reiterated in the article:
He said he would not seek re-election to the House of Commons at the next general election. But, writing in the Observer, he says he envisages a role advising the Labour party on its policies on mental health while focusing more on his NHS work.
Defecting - and especially co-ordinating with Labour for months to time his defection and pre-arrange him joining Labour - isn't just fleeing the sinking ship so much as hanging around a little longer and deliberately trying to make it sink faster. It represents something rather than just being about saving his own skin.
You tory MP tries desperately to keep job.
Come on. The tories have been screwing the NHS for 14 years. And behaving like unassahamed theives through covid. Scamming funding to basically keep the NHS alive through the pandemic.
How the hell is it suddenly worth leaving the party. Only when an MP is sure they will lose. Then joining the party most likely to win.
Sorry the idea this is an idealistic move, is flying from the rear of a male bovine.
In fairness he is standing down at the next election so keeping his seat is not a motivating factor.
I think what this is that he's had a little bit of conscience in him for a long time, but has stamped it down (his voting record indicates he basically only ever does what he's told), and now that he's leaving anyway he thinks what the hell. That way he can pretend to himself he actually did some good.
It's worth noting he's standing down at the general election:
He said he would not seek re-election to the House of Commons at the next general election. But, writing in the Observer, he says he envisages a role advising the Labour party on its policies on mental health while focusing more on his NHS work.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A Tory MP and former health minister has staged a dramatic defection to Labour, saying the Conservatives have become a “nationalist party of the right” that has abandoned compassion and no longer prioritises the NHS.
But, writing in the Observer, he says he envisages a role advising the Labour party on its policies on mental health while focusing more on his NHS work.
Poulter said his experiences on more than 20 night shifts over the last year in a severely overstretched accident and emergency department had been “truly life-changing” and persuaded him to defect to the only party he believed was now really committed to investing in improving the NHS.
The Observer understands that discussions between Poulter and senior Labour figures have been going on for many months at the highest levels about the timing and organisation of his likely defection, as well as advisory roles he could play in future in developing the party’s health policies, with the benefit of his firsthand inside knowledge.
Heavy losses and failure to hold on to key mayoralties such as the West Midlands and Tees Valley are likely to reopen speculation about a possible pre-election leadership challenge to the prime minister.
In the run-up to the next general election, the future of the NHS will be a vital battleground, and Labour is known to be keen to use Poulter’s inside knowledge to maximum effect.
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