Sir Keir Starmer has been in Selby today as the by-election campaign hots up.
The Labour leader and his deputy Angela Rayner visited Selby Community Centre and unveiled a new campaign poster, which criticises the ‘Conservative Mortgage Bombshell’.
He also attacked the outgoing Conservative MP for Selby and Ainsty, Nigel Adams, who sparked the by-election by resigning his seat.
Mr Adams, a key ally of Boris Johnson, quit after he was denied a peerage in the former Prime Minister’s resignation honours list.
Sir Keir said Mr Adams was “throwing his toys out of the pram” and said he had “done next to nothing” for Selby in his 13 years as an MP.
While in Selby, Sir Keir met homeowner Alice Fletcher, whose planned house move fell through with the increase in interest rates.
Speaking to reporters about housebuilding in the area, Sir Keir said: “Nobody wants to build on our fantastic countryside, particularly in a place like this, but we do need a plan that allows families, young families in particular, to have a chance to get a home of their own.
“At the moment the government’s turned its back on homeowners, there is no plan and there’ll be many, many more people like Alice who are trapped, unable to move forward with their lives.
“This by-election is so important in that respect because you’ve had 13 years of an MP who’s done next to nothing, I think mentioned buses in Parliament three times, a really critical issue – and has now thrown his toys out of the pram because he didn’t get a peerage. That is disgraceful.
“There is no way that the Conservatives deserve to win this by-election.”
The Selby and Ainsty by-election is on 20 July. You can see a full list of candidates here.
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