The Crewe and Nantwich MP claims the Crewe West by election result shows people are “fed up with local Labour councillors”.
Crewe Labour candidate Connor Naismith (pictured) won the seat, but the party’s share of the vote hit a ten-year low, mirroring poor performances in local elections around the UK.
Labour earned 42% of the vote in Crewe West, compared to 55% in 2019. The Conservative share rose to 31% from 22% back in 2019.
Crewe & Nantwich Tory MP Dr Kieran Mullan said: “I have been hearing again and again since being elected that people are fed up with local Labour Councillors that take their votes for granted and are not out there delivering on the things that matter to people.
“We saw in Hartlepool that more and more people are willing to think twice about voting the same way for the same old Labour.
“And actually Labour lost a bigger share of their vote in this election in Crewe than they did in Hartlepool.
“I know locally the Conservative team is determined to show people they can get change and see improvements if they give us a chance as they have seen across the whole constituency since December 2019.”
But Mr Naismith, who was elected for Crewe West, hit back saying: “The public will judge Mr Mullan’s comments for themselves.
“This by-election was called under very sad circumstances, with the passing of a long-standing councillor who had dedicated his life to Crewe.
“I have run a positive campaign and will focus on working for the residents of Crewe West, who deserve better that tit-for-tat playground politics.”
In a Facebook post, Mr Naismith added: “It is a huge honour to have been trusted by the voters of Crewe West to represent them on Cheshire East Council.
“I will not take this support for granted, and will immediately get to work to get the best deal for Crewe West residents – whether they voted for me or not.”
Turn out for the Crewe West election was just 22.6%.
Brian Silvester, who came third in the election with hit Putting Crewe First party, said: “This was the first time that ‘Putting Crewe First’ had stood in an election since they were approved as a political party by the Electoral Commission.
“To have beaten the Greens, the Lib Dems, (both of which are long established National Parties) the Workers Party and the Independent Candidate in our first outing is very encouraging and sets the foundations for success in the future.
“Unless the monopoly that Labour have over councillors in the town is ended, the sad spiral of decline in Crewe will sadly continue.”
(Image courtesy of Crewe Labour Party)
Look at the previous voting figures for that ward. The Tory on this occasion actually went down by more than the Labour share.
Given Dr Mullans statement ‘Councillors that take their votes for granted and are not out there delivering on the things that matter to people’ I’d suggest that he himself is guilty of just that. Accordingly I would urge people to examine his voting record as a means of confirming that Dr Mullan has seemingly transcended hypocrisy.
What a totally ridiculous statement from a totally ridiculous MP. How can you make a statement like that based on a 22.6% turn out? I voted for this incompetent MP of our’s but never again. I find Mr Mullan a total hypocrite and the sooner he realizes people are just as fed up of him the better. He is nothing more than a nodding donkey and although I feel sure the Conservatives at the moment would win the next election I would be willing to wager that he will also lose his seat and buck the trend. People of C&N don’t forget Mr Mullan and you have been much worse than the party you slag off I can assure you of that.