- Author, Michael Savage
- Role, Editor, BBC Politics North
Ousted Tory MP says Rishi Sunak made a mistake by calling a snap general election and ran a “terrible campaign”.
John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle for the past 14 years, said Labour had been better prepared than the Conservatives for the July election.
He told the BBC’s Politics North that he and his colleagues hoped it would be held in the autumn, adding that the party should “take its time” in selecting a new leader.
Meanwhile, Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, said her majority of almost 9,000 was an “incredible feeling” and the election “couldn’t come soon enough for most people”.
Stevenson, who came second in Carlisle with 12,929 votes but some 5,200 behind Labour’s Julie Minns, said the result had been expected and it was “not a huge surprise” to lose.
He said: “I actually think Labour was much better prepared.
“It was a strategic mistake to go so early. In addition, the economic news was starting to be good, which would have improved the outlook (for the conservatives).”
He added: “It was a terrible campaign. Everything went wrong from the start and then it got worse with the betting issue.”
Mr Stevenson urged the party to take its time in selecting a new leader, but did not think the process for choosing one, which gives party members the final say, would be changed.
‘A huge job’
Ms Osborne, whose 18,856 votes were almost double those of second-placed Lynda Alexander of Reform UK, was delighted with her majority but said she had much work to do.
“There is so much to do,” he said, adding: “There is so much to fix in so many ways. But we have already started.”
Ms Osborne, who has been MP for Jarrow since 2019, said: “But it will be a huge job. It will take a while, but we are absolutely prepared for it.”
“We have some fantastic policies to be announced in the King’s Speech, such as the new deal for workers.
“I’m really excited about that, about rebalancing the power between employers and employees further and getting rid of atrocious employment practices like fire and rehire and zero-hour contracts.”
