Tory MP Nick Boles denounced over 'creepy' tweet about Labour's Jess Phillips

Member for Grantham and Stamford calls opposition MP irresistible and declares: 'I would walk over hot coals for her'.

Colin Drury
Saturday 09 March 2019 18:45 GMT
Comments
Birmingham MP Jess Phillips 'liked' the post
Birmingham MP Jess Phillips 'liked' the post

Conservative MP Nick Boles has been accused of being “creepy” after posting a Tweet in which he described his Labour parliamentary colleague Jess Phillips as “irresistible”.

The former Tory minister made the comment alongside a link to a newspaper profile in which Ms Phillips is quoted as saying: “I think I’d be a good prime minister.”

Mr Boles, member for Grantham and Stamford, wrote: “There is something about @jessphillips that I find irresistible. I would walk over hot coals for her. And yes she would be a great Prime Minister.”

The MP for Birmingham Yardley, herself, declined to reply to the post, although she did “like” it.

But hundreds of other Twitter users suggested the comments were unbecoming.

“Mate,” wrote one, echoing a relatively common consensus, “you sound like a creepy uncle.”

"Wondering how I’m going to explain this to my husband...," Mr Boles, who is gay, tweeted a few hours later, in response to the online reaction.

Ms Phillips described the comments about her fellow MP as "utterly ridiculous!".

More pertinently, perhaps, the post appeared to raise suspicions that one – or both – the MPs may eventually leave their respective parties and join The Independent Group, a breakaway self-proclaimed centre-ground cohort of MPs made up of former Tories and Labour parliamentarians.

Mr Boles - a one-time remainer and now soft-Brexiteer - is already facing a battle to keep his own seat as a Tory after members of his local party voted to select a different candidate for the next election because of differences over Europe.

Ms Phillips, meanwhile, has been a consistent critic of Jeremy Corbyn and has regularly denounced the party's handling of reports of antisemitism under his leadership.

Nick Boles, business minister

In the Times article, which Mr Boles referenced in his Tweet, she further hinted at leaving the party.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

She told the newspaper: “I feel like I can’t leave the Labour Party without rolling the dice one more time. I owe it that. But it doesn’t own me.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in