James Cleverly’s popularity has plunged – but what do voters in his constituency think?

Published

11 months ago

December 9, 2023

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Since taking over the Home Office brief, James Cleverly’s popularity has plummeted among the party membership.

In a recent opinion poll by the website Conservative Home he has slid down the ministerial leaderboard – from first place to 11th.

The membership is one thing, but how is he faring on his home turf in Braintree, where he has been an MP since 2015?

It’s a staunch Conservative seat, so he should have a sympathetic audience.

However, people here are frustrated. The nearby RAF Wethersfield airbase has been housing asylum seekers since the summer, and locals are not happy.

Their MP initially opposed it, but he’s now in charge of the department overseeing it.

It’s given rise to the accusation that he’s more interested in his personal advancement than the needs of his constituents.

At the Finchingfield Lion pub, one parish councillor told Sky News that Mr Cleverly was no longer quite as “noisy” on the issue of the airbase. Another said that her opinion of Mr Cleverly had fallen in tandem with his professional rise.

They described him as a “shadowy” figure who appears for “meets and greets” but is never really around.

However, just showing his face is enough for some Braintree residents.

On the local high street, the pet shop owner said the MP often comes in and asks: “How is business going… is there anything we can do?”

“That goes a long way,” he said.

Most agreed that Mr Cleverly is a nice enough guy – but in a community where immigration is a divisive political issue, they are sceptical of how effective their MP will be in the Home Office.

Most are frustrated by the government’s failure to deliver on the issue, but few are flirting with the Opposition parties either. A sense of resignation looms large.

Politics

NY Supreme Court allows Greenidge to keep mining, but challenges remain

Published

52 mins ago

November 15, 2024

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NY Supreme Court allows Greenidge to keep mining, but challenges remain

The state Department of Environmental Conservation botched the permitting process, but it still gets a do-over.

Politics

UK economy grows by 0.1% between July and September – slower than expected

Published

52 mins ago

November 15, 2024

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UK economy grows by 0.1% between July and September - slower than expected

The UK economy grew by 0.1% between July and September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

However, despite the small positive GDP growth recorded in the third quarter, the economy shrank by 0.1% in September, dragging down overall growth for the three month period.

The growth was also slower than what had been expected by experts and a drop from the 0.5% growth between April and June, the ONS said.

Economists polled by Reuters and the Bank of England had forecast an expansion of 0.2%, slowing from the rapid growth seen over the first half of 2024 when the economy was rebounding from last year’s shallow recession.

And the metric that Labour has said it is most focused on – the GDP per capita, or the economic output divided by the number of people in the country – also fell by 0.1%.

Reacting to the figures, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “Am I satisfied with the numbers published today? Of course not. I want growth to be stronger, to come sooner, and also to be felt by families right across the country.”

“It’s why in my Mansion House speech last night, I announced some of the biggest reforms of our pension system in a generation to unlock long term patient capital, up to £80bn to help invest in small businesses and scale up businesses and in the infrastructure needs,” Ms Reeves later told Sky News in an interview.

“We’re four months into this government. There’s a lot more to do to turn around the growth performance of the last decade or so.”

New economy data tests chancellor’s growth plan

The sluggish services sector – which makes up the bulk of the British economy – was a particular drag on growth over the past three months. It expanded by 0.1%, cancelling out the 0.8% growth in the construction sector.

The UK’s GDP for the most recent quarter is lower than the 0.7% growth in the US and 0.4% in the Eurozone.

The figures have pushed the UK towards the bottom of the G7 growth table for the third quarter of the year.

It was expected to meet the same 0.2% growth figures reported in Germany and Japan – but fell below that after a slow September.

The pound remained stable following the news, hovering around $1.267. The FTSE 100, meanwhile, opened the day down by 0.4%.

The Bank of England last week predicted that Ms Reeves’s first budget as chancellor will increase inflation by up to half a percentage point over the next two years, contributing to a slower decline in interest rates than previously thought.

Announcing a widely anticipated 0.25 percentage point cut in the base rate to 4.75%, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) forecast that inflation will return “sustainably” to its target of 2% in the first half of 2027, a year later than at its last meeting.

The Bank’s quarterly report found Ms Reeves’s £70bn package of tax and borrowing measures will place upward pressure on prices, as well as delivering a three-quarter point increase to GDP next year.