Welcome to The Largan List – our rolling record of the slips, trips and mishaps that seem, so very often, to befall our East Midlands MPs. Think of it as their blooper reel, if you will.
Here at Central Bylines, we are unashamedly partisan so we will be predominantly focussing on our own MPs. However, it would be churlish to ignore the often-outstanding efforts in the field of ineptness made by politicians from other areas. MPs in other regions will therefore warrant the occasional honourable mention.
POSITION | TREND | MP | CONSTITUENCY | PARTY | EVENT | DETAIL | DATE |
1 | Straight in | Lee Anderson | Ashfield | CON | Dog Whistle award | Mr Anderson earns a second Dog Whistle award for his recent display of both ignorance and cruelty. His preference for dealing with the people making the dangerous trip across the English channel in small boats is not to establish safe and regulated transport for them (the government has already stopped all that) but to dump them on the Falkland Islands. “The only way we will put these people off is by giving them the message that if you come here you are going to be sent 8,000 miles away,” he said. | |
2 | Straight in | Midlands Tory MPs | Team award | CON | Robber Barons | Dozens of Central Bylines Tory MPs voted to ensure that poorer pensioners will have to sacrifice a far greater proportion of their assets to fund their social care needs than wealthier pensioners. In a particularly savage twist, 19 of these MPs (listed below) represent constituencies where the median house price is under £186,000, making absolutely sure their own elderly voters will lose out. Lee Anderson - Shaun Bailey - Aaron Bell - Ben Bradley - Jack Brereton - Brendan Clarke-Smith - Mark Fletcher - Jonathan Gullis - Eddie Hughes - Marco Longhi - Karl McCartney - Nigel Mills - Kieran Mullan - Nicola Richards - Gary Sambrooke - Amanda Solloway - Maggie Throup - Martin Vickers - Matt Warman | |
3 |  | Jonathan Gullis | Stoke-on-Trent North | CON | White Stripe badge | At the Tory party conference, Mr Gullis revealed his belief that teachers who try to instil a sense of equality and self-worth into all their students are actually terrorists. He told the soi-disant Conservative Friends of Education that, “the term white privilege is an extremist term, it should be reported to Prevent. It’s racist to actually suggest everyone who’s white somehow is riddled with privilege.” The former member of the parliamentary education select committee added, “I hope any teacher who’s perpetuated it in the classroom ultimately should face a disciplinary hearing at the very least.” | Oct 21 |
4 | Another mark on his permanent record | Nadhim Zahawi | Stratford-on-Avon | CON | Must try harder | Mr Zahawi’s first day as Education Secretary didn’t go down well at a school in his constituency. He was meant to be the guest of honour at King Edward VI School’s prize-giving but failed to show up or send an apology. Eventually, the headmaster doled out the prizes himself, while the head boy read out his prepared vote of thanks to Mr Zahawi anyway. With the sarcasm dialled up to 10. | Sept 21 |
5 | Back again | Robert Largan | High Peak | CON | Foodbank champion | We’re delighted to see the founding member of the Largan List, back for the first time in a while. Last week, Mr Largan posted a nice photograph of himself helping out at a High Peak food bank, explaining to us all what a Good Thing it is. He seemed unaware that rapidly rising numbers of food banks are not a measure of a country’s success. He also seemed to forget that he voted against free school meals for poor children last year. Luckily, hundreds of people on twitter were on hand to remind him. | Aug 21 |
6 | | Karl McCartney | Lincoln | CON | Financial Irregularity | Lincoln MP, Karl McCartney, is back on the Largan List this week. Not content with bunging tax payers money to his own donors, the Lincoln MP has also apparently made false declarations in his parliamentary register of interests. Labour has asked the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate the issue. Annelise Dodds writes, “If he’s moonlighting, we need to know who for. He can’t hide behind the name of a company that doesn’t exist.” | July 21 |
7 | | Andrew Bridgen | North West Leicestershire | CON | Super-smearer | The BMA has been loud in its calls for the continued wearing of facemarks in some settings. Andrew Bridgen appears to disagree. During an interview with LBC’s Matt Frei, he insinuated that the BMA’s stance has been influenced by lobbying from the PPE industry. We would like to remind our readers that the BMA is staffed by medically-qualified doctors while, prior to sitting in the House of Commons, Mr Bridgen was in the business of washing vegetables. | July 21 |
8 | | Paul Bristow | Peterborough | CON | It's all about me | The Conservative MP for Peterborough scored an own goal yesterday when he used the England football team’s magnificent quarter final victory to try and flog self-promoting posters. 229 comments under his facebook post paint a vivd picture of an entire constituency cringing with embarrassment. | July 21 |
9 | | Andrew Bridgen | North West Leicestershire | CON | Bash the Beeb award | Mr Bridgen appeared on Newsnight to berate the BBC over the behaviour of its reporter Martin Bashir. Whilst Mr Bashir undoubtedly employed deceitful practices to obtain an interview from Princess Diana, Mr Bridgen, like most Brexiters, appears to be stuck in the past, seemingly unaware that this interview occurred in 1995. On the programme, he called for the BBC to make extensive changes, apparently completely oblivious to the fact that in the twenty six years since the interview, the BBC has indeed done precisely that. | May 2021 |
10 | | Karl McCartney | Lincoln | CON | Cronyism Klaxon | Lincoln MP, Karl McCartney, is keen for everyone to share the wealth. However, he is particularly keen on sharing public money with his own backers. In 2020, Mr McCartney handed more than £30,000 of tax payers’ money to Anagallis Communications, a company operated by one of his donors. While Mr McCartney can employ whomever he likes to run his office (within IPSA rules), he is oddly cagey about disclosing the information. On one of the expense claims, Anagallis Communications is listed only as ‘A’. It’s almost as if the MP knows that the claim looks dodgy. | June 21 |
| | Brendan Clarke-Smith | Bassetlaw | CON | Bunting Award | Mr Clarke-Smith joins several other Central Bylines MPs in running to Auntie after BBC Breakfast presenters gently teased Robert Jenrick about the flag in his house. Another reminder that there ain’t no snowflake like a Tory snowflake. | Mar 2021 | |
| | Daniel Kaczynski | Shrewsbury and Atcham | CON | Bunting Award | Mr Kaczynski joins several other Central Bylines MPs in running to Auntie after BBC Breakfast presenters gently teased Robert Jenrick about the flag in his house. Another reminder that there ain’t no snowflake like a Tory snowflake. | Mar 2021 | |
| | John Hayes | South Holland and the Deepings | CON | Bunting Award | Mr Hayes joins several other Central Bylines MPs in running to Auntie after BBC Breakfast presenters gently teased Robert Jenrick about the flag in his house. Another reminder that there ain’t no snowflake like a Tory snowflake. | Mar 2021 | |
| | Jonathan Gullis | Stoke on Trent North | CON | Bunting Award | Mr Gullis joins several other Central Bylines MPs in running to Auntie after BBC Breakfast presenters gently teased Robert Jenrick about the flag in his house. Another reminder that there ain’t no snowflake like a Tory snowflake. | Mar 2021 | |
| | Lee Anderson | Ashfield | CON | Bunting Award | Mr Anderson joins several other Central Bylines MPs in running to Auntie after BBC Breakfast presenters gently teased Robert Jenrick about the flag in his house. Another reminder that there ain’t no snowflake like a Tory snowflake. | Mar 2021 | |
| | Marco Longhi | Dudley North | CON | Bunting Award | Mr Longhi joins several other Central Bylines MPs in running to Auntie after BBC Breakfast presenters gently teased Robert Jenrick about the flag in his house. Another reminder that there ain’t no snowflake like a Tory snowflake. | Mar 2021 | |
| | James Wild | North West Norfolk | CON | Honorary Bunting Award | As an MP outside Central Bylines usual remit, Mr Wild can win only an honorary bunting award for publicly expressing his disappointment about the number of flags that Auntie keeps in her drawers. Poor Auntie. At this rate, soon she will not have room in her drawers for her actual drawers. | Mar 2021 | |
NEW | Pauline Latham | Mid Derbyshire | CON | Slipped Mask award | This week, reports have reached Central Bylines of the two faces of Mrs Latham. The former Mayor of Derby invariably wears a smile when out and about in public. Within the confines of a private car, however, it seems she feels able to let the mask slip. We have it on good authority that in the space of one 90 minute journey (taken several years ago), she spoke insultingly of a non-Tory colleague on a select committee and disparaged her driver continually, to the point that they felt compelled to ask her not to speak to them | May 2021 | |
 | John Hayes | South Holland and The Deepings | CON | Snowflake Award - upgrade to Silver | In a marked departure from his usual honking about the horrors of cancel culture, Sir John is using the national broadcaster to try and silence a government department. Historic England (which comes under the umbrella of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) has reported on the fact that a number of places in Lincolnshire have links to slavery in their past. Sir John seems to want the report to be..um..cancelled. | Mar 2021 | |
| Lee Anderson | Ashfield | CON |  SERVICES TO MENTAL HEALTH | Mr Anderson hosts a live quiz via Facebook and is asked about child poverty by a viewer. The MP makes a crass attempt to silence his questioner by saying that he’s probably on medication and must have escaped from somewhere. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Lee Anderson | Ashfield | CON |  GAGGING ORDER | Mr Anderson threatens a journalist for writing an article he doesn’t like. Chad reporter, Katrina Taylor wrote an article about Mr Anderson’s habit of blocking constituents on social media. Mr Anderson responded in a public facebook post, saying she had crossed a line and he would be speaking with the editor. | Feb 2021 | |
| Karl McCartney | Lincoln | CON | Champion | Karl McCartney brushes off a demand by the Royal College of Nursing for a pay rise for their members, calling it “one for the fairies”. There will be no increase for nurses in next week’s Budget. In fact, the most experienced front-liners are £6144 per year worse off than a decade ago because wages have not kept up with inflation. Mr McCartney, on the other hand, has happily accepted eight pay rises in the last ten years. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Lee Anderson | Ashfield | CON | Clueless | These keen advocates of Brexit send a revealing letter to the Prime Minister. We learn that they have no idea what Brexit actually means (despite voting for it), that they think it’s OK to make jokes when discussing the collapse of an entire industry together with the loss of livelihood of all the people involved and that their grasp of grammar is as dodgy as their humour. | ||
| | Andrew Bridgen | North West Leicestershire | CON | Clueless | These keen advocates of Brexit send a revealing letter to the Prime Minister. We learn that they have no idea what Brexit actually means (despite voting for it), that they think it’s OK to make jokes when discussing the collapse of an entire industry together with the loss of livelihood of all the people involved and that their grasp of grammar is as dodgy as their humour. | ||
| | Phillip Hollobone | Kettering | CON | Clueless | These keen advocates of Brexit send a revealing letter to the Prime Minister. We learn that they have no idea what Brexit actually means (despite voting for it), that they think it’s OK to make jokes when discussing the collapse of an entire industry together with the loss of livelihood of all the people involved and that their grasp of grammar is as dodgy as their humour. | ||
| | Brendan Clarke-Smith | Bassetlaw | CON | Clueless | These keen advocates of Brexit send a revealing letter to the Prime Minister. We learn that they have no idea what Brexit actually means (despite voting for it), that they think it’s OK to make jokes when discussing the collapse of an entire industry together with the loss of livelihood of all the people involved and that their grasp of grammar is as dodgy as their humour. | ||
| | Peter Bone | Wellingboroug | CON | Clueless | These keen advocates of Brexit send a revealing letter to the Prime Minister. We learn that they have no idea what Brexit actually means (despite voting for it), that they think it’s OK to make jokes when discussing the collapse of an entire industry together with the loss of livelihood of all the people involved and that their grasp of grammar is as dodgy as their humour. | ||
| | Sarah Dines | Derbyshire Dales | CON |  BLOCKED | Ms Dines blocks a constituent on Facebook for pointing out links between MPs and private healthcare. Abusive stuff, I’m sure you agree. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Desmond Swayne | New Forest West | CON | DANGEROUS DESMOND | Desmond Swayne, the MP for New Forest West and blackface enthusiast, is receiving a certain amount of opprobrium this morning. To put it another way, he’s getting a right pasting. An incendiary report from Sky News reveals that back in November, Sir Desmond told an anti-vaxxer group that Covid-19 figures about NHS capacity are being manipulated and they should persist in their effort against Covid-19 restrictions. [read more] | Jan 2021 | |
| NEW ENTRY | Nadhim Zahawi | Stratford upon Avon | CON | Time machine | The under-secretary of state for the vaccine claims on television - not once but several times - that he possesses an ingenious machine that can reverse the passing of time. Gasp when you see the dazzling switcheroo of March and April! Groan as you realise that, in reality, he probably doesn’t know what he’s talking about. | Feb 2021 | |
| | John Hayes | South Holland and the Deepings | CON |  | Sir John uses his right of free speech to moan loudly about being silenced by cancel culture. In his column for his local newspaper - the mouthpiece of his community. | Jan 2021 | |
| NEW ENTRY | Liz Truss | South West Norfolk | CON | Ostrich | The secretary of state for international trade is refusing to answer questions in the House of Commons relating to the UK’s trading relationship with Europe. Her excuse? That as secretary of state for for international trade, trade with Europe is not her problem. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Amanda Solloway | Derby North | CON |  COOK DA BOOKS | Ms Solloway lets slip that the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is far from businesslike when it comes to its accounts. No-one in the department has any idea how much they spent in advertising and marketing in the run up to Brexit at the end of last year. Or if they do know, they certainly aren’t saying. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Boris Johnson | Uxbridge and South Ruislip | CON | The WOAT award | On the day after the UK mourns the death of 100,000 of its citizens from Covid-19, East Midlands Bylines notes the seemingly-endless list of government errors, negligence and cronyism that led us to this point, notes also the complete lack of remorse or acknowledgement from the government and awards Boris Johnson the accolade of Worst Of All Time. | Jan 2021 | |
| | Robert Largan | High Peak | CON | Change the record, will you? | Jan 2021 | ||
| | Amand Solloway | Derby North | CON |  SPACE CADET | Ms Solloway declares herself Minister for the Universe. Obviously, Derby North is not big enough to contain a star such as she. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Robert Jenrick | Newark | CON | The Morning After award | As the UK suffers 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, Robert Jenrick appears on Good Morning Britain. Despite a horrifying litany of errors provided for him by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, he’s clueless to think of anything the government might have done differently. | Jan 2021 | |
| | John Hayes | South Holland and the Deepings | CON |  DOG WHISTLE | Nov 2020 | ||
| | Edward Leigh | Gainsborough and Horncastle | CON | DOG WHISTLE | Edward Leigh leads the hail of anti-semitic dogwhistles from the Conservative ‘Common Sense Group’ as first signatory of a letter to The Daily Telegraph stating their mission is ‘to ensure British values are not coloured by the cultural Marxist dogma.’ | Nov 2020 | |
| | Lee Anderson | Ashfield | CON | DOG WHISTLE | Lee Anderson leads the hail of anti-semitic dogwhistles from the Conservative ‘Common Sense Group’ as first signatory of a letter to The Daily Telegraph stating their mission is ‘to ensure British values are not coloured by the cultural Marxist dogma.’ | Nov 2020 | |
| | Pauline Latham | Mid Derbyshire | CON | DOG WHISTLE | Pauline Latham leads the hail of anti-semitic dogwhistles from the Conservative ‘Common Sense Group’ as first signatory of a letter to The Daily Telegraph stating their mission is ‘to ensure British values are not coloured by the cultural Marxist dogma.’ | Nov 2020 | |
| | Karl McCartney | Lincoln | CON | DOG WHISTLE | Karl McCartney leads the hail of anti-semitic dogwhistles from the Conservative ‘Common Sense Group’ as first signatory of a letter to The Daily Telegraph stating their mission is ‘to ensure British values are not coloured by the cultural Marxist dogma.’ | Nov 2020 | |
| | Ben Bradley | Mansfield | CON | DOG WHISTLE | Ben Bradley leads the hail of anti-semitic dogwhistles from the Conservative ‘Common Sense Group’ as first signatory of a letter to The Daily Telegraph stating their mission is ‘to ensure British values are not coloured by the cultural Marxist dogma.’ | Nov 2020 | |
| | Brendan Clarke-Smith | Bassetlaw | CON | DOG WHISTLE | Brendan Clarke-Smith leads the hail of anti-semitic dogwhistles from the Conservative ‘Common Sense Group’ as first signatory of a letter to The Daily Telegraph stating their mission is ‘to ensure British values are not coloured by the cultural Marxist dogma.’ | Nov 2020 | |
| | Andrew Lewer | Northampton South | CON | DOG WHISTLE | Andrew Lewer leads the hail of anti-semitic dogwhistles from the Conservative ‘Common Sense Group’ as first signatory of a letter to The Daily Telegraph stating their mission is ‘to ensure British values are not coloured by the cultural Marxist dogma.’ | Nov 2020 | |
| NEW ENTRY | Grant Schapps | Welwyn Hatfield | CON |  NO MAN IS AN ISLAND | Mr Schapps attempts to defend the government’s ‘half-baked’ quarantine policy by claiming that the UK is unable to shut down completely because it is an island, “unlike Australia”. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Lee Anderson | Ashfield | CON | Snout in the trough | Mr Anderson claimed £6,386 in councillor allowances during 2020. It is not illegal for MPs to continue as councillors once elected but they generally step down as soon as practicable and the decent ones do not claim their councillor allowances on top of their £81,932 salary. Mr Anderson is still a councillor for Mansfield DC, although it might be hard to spot him as he has missed 15 out of the last 18 council meetings. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Brendan Clarke-Smith | Bassetlaw | CON | Snout in the trough | Mr Clarke-Smith claimed £4,987 in councillor allowances during 2020. It is not illegal for MPs to continue as councillors once elected but they generally step down as soon as practicable and the decent ones do not claim their councillor allowances on top of their £81,932 salary. Mr Clarke-Smith is still a councillor for Newark & Sherwood Borough Council. | Feb 2021 | |
| Claudia Webbe | Leicester East | IND | Snout in the trough | Ms Webbe claimed £10,808 in councillor allowances during 2020. It is not illegal for MPs to continue as councillors once elected but they generally step down as soon as practicable and the decent ones do not claim their councillor allowances on top of their £81,932 salary. Ms Webbe is still a councillor for Islington. | Feb 2021 | |
| | Ben Bradley | Mansfield | CON | Feed the crack dens | During the Free School Meals scandal, Ben Bradley suggests that the food vouchers distributed to families in need go straight to crack dens and brothels in his constituency. | Oct 2020 | |
| | Karl McCartney | Lincoln | CON | The Take Him Down award | Karl McCartney has been warned - again - by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office not to use his status as a magistrate to promote his political activities. | Jan 2021 | |
 | Ruth Edwards | Rushcliffe | CON |  LOUD HAILER AWARD | This MP has switched off their twitter replies, thereby reducing their accounts to loud hailers for Conservative HQ. | Oct 2020 | |
| | Darren Henry | Broxstowe | CON | LOUD HAILER AWARD | This MP has switched off their twitter replies, thereby reducing their accounts to loud hailers for Conservative HQ. | Oct 2020 | |
| | Gareth Davies | Grantham and Stamford | CON | LOUD HAILER AWARD | This MP has switched off their twitter replies, thereby reducing their accounts to loud hailers for Conservative HQ. | Oct 2020 | |
| | Lee Anderson | Ashfield | CON | Who needs constituents when your mates will do it? | During the General Election campaign, Lee Anderson gets caught on camera setting up a fake door-stepping interview with a friend. Daily Mail journalist Michael Crick gleefully makes it public. | Dec 2019 | |
| | Dominic Raab | Escher & Walton | CON | Reliance on the Dover-Calais crossing | An honourable mention goes to the then-Brexit Secretary for his comment that UK trade is “particularly reliant on the Dover-Calais crossing.” With disarming frankness, Raab admitted he hadn’t quite understood that fact. | Apr 2018 | |
| | Brendan Clarke-Smith | Bassetlaw | CON | The ‘I’m immune to it all’ award | Jan 2021 |
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