Jess Phillips has admitted she found the general election campaign “absolutely horrible” after enduring abuse – which culminated in being booed as she gave her acceptance speech.
The Labour MP was narrowly re-elected for Birmingham Yardley on Friday morning with a majority of just 693 – after facing competition from a Workers Party candidate on a pro-Gaza ticket.
Ms Phillips – who quit the Labour frontbench in November to back a Commons vote calling for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire – was booed and heckled as she addressed the crowd at the count.
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Speaking to Sky News’ Beth Rigby on the latest Electoral Dysfunction podcast, out later this evening, Ms Phillips reflected on the past six weeks of campaigning and said: “It was an absolutely horrible campaign.”
Labelling the abuse she’s received in recent weeks as “the most aggressive [and] most intimidatory”, Jess continued: “Not just [for] me but people in my constituency.
“[There were] people being intimidated, people being told that God will judge them if they vote a certain way.”
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Campaign activists in Birmingham had their car tyres slashed on Thursday, while a young woman handing out leaflets had “genocide” screamed in her face as someone filmed it, Ms Phillips added.
“The reason they’re filming is to drive content, to incite more intimidation,” she said. “In my constituency, the humiliation was by men, to women.
“And they wish to drive content… that’s what our politics has become – humiliation. Content-driven grift.”
A West Midlands Police spokesperson told Sky News they were “aware of a number of incidents leading up to the election where people have reported criminal damage and harassment”.
“We are carrying out enquiries to identify those responsible,” they added, noting officer were present at several polling stations and counts “to offer reassurance and ensure public safety”.
Ms Phillips described the candidates who were standing on a pro-Gaza platform as “deplorable”.
She added: “I know they’re not here to defend themselves, but they have done absolutely nothing to help a single person in Gaza.
“They have just bullied and picked on mainly women.”
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Jess Phillips on ‘horrible campaign’
Ms Phillips added that while her sons campaigned on the day voters headed to the polls, she did not feel comfortable taking them to the election count.
“I didn’t want to take them because I just thought it might be really ugly for them to be there,” she said. “They were in good spirits and everything, but I had to keep them in the office with me.”
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In response, James Giles, the Workers Party candidate for the neighbouring seat of Birmingham Hodge Hill, said: “Labour are on their way out in Birmingham, because of their betrayal of ordinary people.
“We will keep banging the drum and rid Labour from this great city.”
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
