Former Tory MP gets revenge on Boris

Partygate may be what does for Boris but it was the North Shropshire by-election which triggered the landslide. The fallout from the disastrous decision to contest Owen Paterson’s suspension by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has fuelled the anger and discontent which now leaves Johnson clinging on the precipice. For in losing a constituency which had returned Tories for more than 100 years, the PM spooked nervy backbenchers into thinking their seats could be next.

Now though, the latest publication of the register of members’ interests has revealed the schadenfreude which others are deriving from Johnson’s North Shropshire woes. For the newly-elected Helen Morgan has declared £28,000 in donations since her triumph there, including £2,000 from former Labour/TIG/Change UK/Lib Dem MP Chuka Umunna who now enjoys waxing lyrical about ESG policy over at JP Morgan.

But it was a separate £6,500 donation from Antoinette Sandbach which caught Steerpike’s eye. For Sandbach was one of the 21 Tory MPs who had the whip removed by Boris Johnson back in September 2019 for voting with opposition MPs against a no-deal Brexit.