Seely flip-flops ‘like a wet fish’

Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely, has been mocked for recent comments about Boris Johnson, in which he repeatedly contradicted himself, including during an appearance on BBC2’s Newsnight, in which he seemed to forget that he had recently appeared on the programme and what he had said.

Mr Seely voted this week to support the findings of the House of Commons Privileges Committee on the ‘Partygate’ allegations against the former Prime Minister and to ban him from the House of Commons for 90 days, although he had already resigned as an MP.

In 2020 Mr Seely himself attended an illegally-held barbecue in Seaview during lockdown, claiming he had only eaten “half a sausage”. He was not one of the 117,000 people nationally who received a fine of up to £10,000 for breaching lockdown regulations.

Island Labour’s chairman, Cllr Richard Quigley, said: “They say a week is a long time in politics. It certainly is for Bob Seely who has been flip-flopping around like a wet fish and widely mocked on social media.

“A week last Friday he was defending the liars’ liar, Boris Johnson, on Newsnight, saying ‘I wish he was still Prime Minister’, and referred to the Privileges Committee as a ‘kangaroo court’. He appeared on Newsnight again on Monday, denying he had said ‘kangaroo court’ and claiming that he couldn’t remember being on the programme recently. Victoria Derbyshire was having none of it.

“Add to that his speech regarding the committee report, in which he looked for ways to excuse his own BBQ attendance and also said ‘We got rid of Boris Johnson a year ago because we lost faith in him, because he was probably not telling the truth.’ It’s been a very long week for him indeed. It makes you wonder what else he has ‘misremembered’; certainly his Island Deal seems long forgotten.

“Islanders are sick of the self-serving collection of Tory liars and their lies. People are asking me what can be done about the lack of housing, the cost-of-living crisis and the NHS backlog. I suggest Bob comes and talks to some of his constituents with me instead of topping up his £86k salary with multiple TV appearances.”

Mr Seely claimed that calling the Privileges Committee a kangaroo court was because he was repeating a “pro-Boris colleague” who spoke on the show before him. He refused to answer questions about saying he wished Boris Johnson was still the Prime Minister, yet ten days later said he was “probably not telling the truth.”

From January to May this year Mr Seely has declared earnings of £2,500 for five TV appearances.

Photo: Credits BBC