By Sammy Mngqosini
December 13 2019, 12.20
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A victorious Labour MP slammed Jeremy Corbyn and fake news for her party’s disastrous performance.
Ruth Cadbury, Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth since 2015, was re-elected with 29,266 votes, a 50% majority ahead of Conservative Seena Shah.
Ms Cadbury blamed Jeremy Corbyn’s unpopularity as one of the key factors that contributed to the party’s poor campaign.
She said: “I think it’s the right time for us to find a new leader.
“I didn’t support Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership election but he’s been our leader and, to be fair, our manifesto has been generally popular.
“However his brand has not gone down well on the doorsteps.”
She added: “Companies and organisations that employ so many people are now going to have months and years of uncertainty and retraction as Brexit is implemented and this country’s reputation, economy and security will be deeply damaged.
“It is now time to find a new leader to take on this government and hopefully to come back with a Labour majority in five years-time.”
Ms Cadbury also attributed the Labour Party’s poor results to what she described the unchecked Conservative Party ‘Fake News’ distributed through statements, speeches and direct advertising.
She said: “Day after day on the doorstep I heard people saying, ‘the conservatives say you want to make the country like Venezuela’, the conservatives have said this and that, things that were complete and utter lies.
“The Information Commissioner has confirmed that something like 80% of the Conservative adverts were misleading while none of the Labour party adverts were misleading.
“I think it’s been really difficult for the electorate because many people have voted on the basis of what they believe to be the truth in fact it was what I think we should call fake news.
Ms Cadbury warned the country was headed for a very difficult time and a strong opposition leader was needed in order to spearhead the fight against Conservative austerity measures.
She added: “The Conservatives have been very clear since 2010 that they had a political project called austerity and that means cutting the public sector.
“Cutting the public sector means cutting the public services and for many it’s taken time to realise the impact of that. But it’s straightforward, it’s glaring and ruins so many lives and destroys the public services that we all take for granted.”
Ms Cadbury thanked her constituents for electing her for a third term in office and vowed to continue to fight for them in Westminster.
She said: “I am very pleased and humbled to have been given such a large majority by my electorate in Brentford and Isleworth.
“It is a strong remain seat and many thousands of families have been deeply affected by austerity and were voting strongly to get Boris Johnson and the Conservatives out after nine and a half years.
“Sadly they are not going to see that in government but I will continue to champion their needs and their priorities in the months and years ahead.”
