Tamworth by-election 2023: Residents slam ‘self-serving’ politicians with ‘their big snouts in the troughs’

Ahead of the Tamworth by-election taking place on Thursday (19 October), residents in Tamworth told NationalWorld what they think of politicians - with one saying they are “all the same” and have “all got their big snouts in the troughs”. Julie Snow, 63, said they “all just look after their own back pockets” and are “out for themselves”.

The by-election in Tamworth comes after their former Conservative MP, Chris Pincher, resigned after the Parliament’s standards committee found he groped two men at London’s Carlton Club. Pincher resigned last month having held the seat since 2010, however, Tamworth resident Dave Payne, 76, said he “should have resigned beforehand purely out of self-respect”.

On the high street of Tamworth on Monday (16 October) residents told NationalWorld that they have lost faith in politicians and do not trust them. Ronald Skett, 78, said he doesn’t “trust any of them” and thinks politicians are “self serving” while Fiona, 64, said “they all say things then they do nothing, it is always the same”.

Mr Skett had brought a placard along with him to the high street which included a poster titled ‘Just Stop Starmer (and the Conservatives!)’ calling on the residents of Tamworth to “vote for one of the smaller parties” ahead of Thursday. He slammed the Labour party for wishing to reintroduce a policy that will build on greenfield sites - a policy he says has been inflicted on Tamworth for the past 12 years and helped on by Pincher. Mr Skett said the two major parties are “useless” and “surely” the other parties “cannot do any worse”.

Residents voiced their anger at how politicians do not listen to the people that voted for them and make empty promises. Mr Payne told NationalWorld that politicians “just seem to toe the party line rather than representing the people that voted for them” and it “would make a change for them to tell the truth instead of avoiding it all the time.” He added: “I think most of them are in it for the money, they get a very good living and they still try to avoid paying bills by claiming this and that. I haven’t got a lot of trust in any of them to be honest.”

Pincher stepped down as deputy chief whip in July 2022, stating in his resignation letter that he “drank far too much” and embarrassed himself and others. According to the BBC, since then he has received almost £100,000 in salary, £7,920 in ministerial severance and claimed £13,860 in rent as expenses.

The Conservatives won the seat comfortably at the 2019 general election, and Labour’s leader Keir Starmer has said that his party winning this by-election would still be a “tough ask”.

Brian Durham, 78, told NationalWorld that he would like to see politicians talking to “ordinary people that are on the streets”and wants Tamworth’s next MP to be in the community more. He said politicians should be more visible and get to know people’s concerns. Mr Durham said: “They should be around more, you never see them but years ago you used to. They even used to come and knock your door but now they don’t, you never see one.”

Tamworth was held by Labour for 13 years before being gained by the Conservatives in 2010. To win the seat, Labour would need a net change of 22 in every 100 people who voted Conservative in 2019 to switch to its party. The results will be announced early in the morning on Friday (20 October).