Election: Where is Andrea Leadsom and the Cabinet?

It is one thing for the Tory Party to put all its campaign emphasis on Theresa May, a deliberate strategy to make June 8 a “presidential” choice between her and Jeremy Corbyn. But the Conservatives have gone much further, virtually erasing most of her Cabinet from the public scene.

Cabinet Secretaries such as Phil Hammond, Liam Fox, Jeremy Hunt, Justine Greening and  Priti Patel have all but disappeared while Andrea Leadsom, the less than nimble Environment and Rural Affairs Secretary seems to be under lock and key. Just a year ago Leadsom was a serious candidate to become Prime Minister but Conservative campaign chief Lynton Crosby now wants her nowhere near the public, let alone the press.

These supposed heavyweights have been tweeting carefully staged photos of themselves making friends with the elderly and smiling with children but they are avoiding almost any exposure that might see them questioned. So who is in hiding and why are the Tories so determined top keep them hidden?

Andrea Leadsom

Andrea Leadsom is another Brexiteer who made lavish promises about the riches that would flow from leaving the EU. Her devotion to that cause lifted her from obscurity to the front row of Tory leadership candidates, and it was the resulting attention that exposed some serious exaggerations in her account of her business career before entering politics.

Leadsom then showed in an interview with The Times why it is dangerous for her to be allowed to talk to the press. She suggested that her role as a mother would give her extra strengths as a PM, a clear dig at her main rival, the childless Theresa May. She apologised and withdrew her candidacy, clearing the way for May’s coronation as PM.

Leadsom has gone missing from the campaign despite important consultations on air pollution policy. After the launch of the Conservative manifesto on May 18, Felix Magazine contacted her department to ask if Leadsom would be attending any events and was referred to Conservative Party headquarters. HQ transferred the call to a message service to leave contact details for a response. We are still waiting. Meanwhile Leadsom continues to tweet friendly selfies of herself helping out on local Tory campaigns.

An attempt by BBC’s Newsnight to find some of those campaign appearances produced an entertaining account by reporter John Sweeney of his hunt for Leadsom. “This general election has the feel of the most over-controlled, stage-managed and yet boring election ever and that can’t be good for our democratic system,” concluded Sweeney.

When his search took him to places where she had already appeared and left the Cabinet Secretary’s office responded to his query “Where’s Andrea Leadsom?” by tweeting an image of unspecified forest.

Shortly before the Tories were accused of quietly removing a manifesto pledge to ban the sale of ivory, Leadsom tweeted that the Government was “fully committed to protecting rare species in our #ConservativeManifesto. Saving iconic and hugely loved elephants is vital.” Animal rights campaigners were furious at the U-turn in removing this “vital” policy but Leadsom was nowhere to be questioned.

Jeremy Hunt

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt took three days to comment on the major “WannaCry” cyber attack that hit 60 NHS trusts on May 12, even though 11 trusts were still affected when  he finally emerged to say the situation was under control.

He had to respond more quickly to the Conservative manifesto’s “dementia tax” on May 18, and explained that the cost of social care would  be taken from estates worth over £100,000 only on death, making it a form of inheritance tax.

Hunt showed just why the Tories are in control-freak mode by telling the BBC’s Today Program the following day that the party had no plans to cap those social care charges. Three days later the PM claimed the policy had always included such a cap, no doubt cursing Hunt’s candour for confirming the nature of her U-turn.

Boris Johnson

The Brexit King who pitched the £350m on a buss all over the country. Boris Johnson’s celebrity “star dust” has had few outings on the campaign trail, but he has still managed to cause a few problems for his party. On May 17 he told voters at a Sikh temple in Bristol that free trade agreements under Brexit would liberate India from the 120% Scotch whiskey customs duty.

The Brexit champion has been decidedly quiet about his referendum promises that Brexit would produce 300,000 new jobs through new free trade deals and deliver a fanciful dividend of £350m a week for the NHS.

Stewart Vickers @VickHellfire

 

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