Tamworth by election 2023: Tory candidate Andrew Cooper slammed as ‘nasty’ after telling parents who can’t feed kids to ‘f*** off’

The Conservative candidate for Tamworth’s by-election, Andrew Cooper, has been slammed after a diagram he created telling parents who are struggling to feed their kids to “f*** off” has surfaced on social media. Mr Cooper posted the diagram drawn in pen on a piece of paper in 2020 on Facebook.

He asks the question on the diagram: “Can you feed your kids?”. This then points to either a “yes” or a “no” with “well done” underneath the yes and underneath the no other boxes appear such as “Do you have to pay for TV” and “Do you have a phone contract”. “Yes” answers to these boxes leads to the big box which says “F*** off”. After the image emerged, Cooper said that "most people in Tamworth would agree that benefits are no there to pay for luxuries".

A user named Mike posted a picture of the screenshotted Facebook post from 2020 on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He said: “Andrew Cooper, Tory candidate for the upcoming by-election in Tamworth. Showing an excellent Tory mindset. He’ll go far. Far, far away hopefully!”

A user named Otto English also posted the screenshotted picture on X, saying “hadn’t heard of Cooper before but frankly Tamworth deserves better.” One user replied to the post saying it is “disgusting” and another said “A chip off the old block…”. A user named Ava wrote “Bigotry, malice, hypocrisy and sheer cruelty - ‘conservative values’ indeed” while another user added “Yor kids? Thick as well as nasty.”

If elected as the MP, Cooper will be responsible for helping families across the constituency who are struggling with the cost of living. Cooper defended his post telling The Mirror: “I think most people in Tamworth would agree that benefits are not there to pay for luxuries. There are too many people on out of work benefits and there needs to be improved incentives to get people into work.

"Both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have spoken about the need to get people off welfare and into jobs. That’s why I want to be the local MP in Tamworth - so I can support local families and help get more people into work.” Cooper’s partner Elizabeth Austin also defended him, writing: “How desperate are you getting now? Pulling out a post from three years ago.”

Labour MP Stephanie Peacock, who is leading the party’s by-election campaign in Tamworth, told the Mirror that she is “shocked” but “not surprised” at the behaviour “given the last Tory MP for the area resigned in disgrace.” She added that Tamworth has an opportunity for a “fresh start” on Thursday (19 October) when the by-election is taking place.

The by-election is being held after the Parliament’s standards committee found  that their former Tory MP, Chris Pincher, groped two men at London’s Carlton Club. He resigned last month after having held the seat since 2010. To win the seat on Thursday, Labour would need a net change of 22 in every 100 people who voted Conservative in 2019 to switch to its party.

Residents in Tamworth’s high street spoke to NationalWorld on Monday (16 October) saying that they do not have any trust or faith in politicians, and they are “all out for themselves”. Julie Snow, 63, said they “all just look after their own back pockets” and have “all got their big snouts in the troughs”. Claire Durham, 75, said she would like to see more “honesty and clarity” and will be voting for the Labour candidate, Sarah Edwards, because she “so wants a change of government”.