Tamworth is perhaps best known for manufacturing the Reliant Robin, a three-wheeled car both affectionately mocked and admired by the British public. Until recently, Boris Johnson had held a similar position in the public consciousness, but the view in the Staffordshire town on Wednesday was that the wheels may be finally, if stubbornly, coming off.
In the spotlight after their MP resigned in disgrace as deputy chief whip last week, constituency residents seem to have had enough of Chris Pincher and the prime minister.
“Boris Johnson just needs to go,” said Tyla Pownall, 20, who works in a takeaway. As for Pincher, who remains the town’s MP, he said: “It’s not a good look. Tamworth gets a bad rap but this just makes it worse.”
Emily Turner, 24, a sales manager, went further. “I think Pincher is disgusting. They’re all the same. Old white men. They are entitled to do whatever they want. He should be prosecuted; he definitely shouldn’t be a member of parliament.”
Some local councillors privately agree that Pincher’s days are numbered, but none would go on the record. “We’ve been told by the local Conservative association in no uncertain terms that we are not to talk to the media if we want to keep our jobs,” said one.
But they were clearly furious. “It’s a complete and utter mess. The fact that Chris Pincher is still in post is depressing,” they said. “As for him being backed up by Boris, and lying through his teeth saying he didn’t know what’s going on, it just takes away from the hard work of an awful lot of party members and MPs and councillors across the country and brings everyone into disrepute.” Both Pincher and Johnson should go, the councillor said.
The same source said Tamworth Conservatives were divided on Pincher “between those that are supportive of him and would consider him a really good friend and have the feeling that ‘everybody is innocent until proven guilty’ and then there is the other end of the spectrum that goes ‘I never want to see him again’.”
Tamworth has been Conservative since 2010, when Pincher was elected after it had been a Labour seat for 13 years.
Jo Elyafi, 46, had contact with Pincher in the past when her son was undergoing cancer treatment. “We asked him for help with disability benefits my son was entitled to. He ignored the messages I had sent over Facebook for over a week. When I wrote to him, he sent a really pompous reply saying I already replied to you. He did so a week later.”
Elyafi’s ire extends to the entire Tory party. “I don’t like any of the Tories, they’re a cesspit. Boris Johnson is an embarrassment,” she said. She voted for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn in the past. “Corbyn was a fair person who was true to himself. Keir Starmer is not the same. He is trying to play along with what will gain him points. He’s trying to be something that he thinks other people want.” She doesn’t know who she would vote for in the event of a byelection.
Narinder Gohil, 59, who runs a boutique in the town centre, voted for the Conservatives in the past, including in 2019. She did so as she felt it was in her best interests as a small business owner. Scandals aside, she feels the government isn’t doing enough for small businesses. “We are middle of the road small business owners and we are getting run over. The business tax bracket needs to be higher so we can keep more of our earnings,” Gohil said.
While she is no fan of the prime minister, she doesn’t believe getting rid of him will magically solve the problems the country faces. “Even if we take Boris out of the equation, we’re gonna be stuck. Whoever we have, I don’t think anyone can do the job right.”
