Tag: Keir Starmer

  • Meddling Menace (‘Ian’) Mowbray Jackson – A Missing Link Between Nigel Farage & George Cottrell (‘Cotrel’)

    Meddling Menace (‘Ian’) Mowbray Jackson – A Missing Link Between Nigel Farage & George Cottrell (‘Cotrel’)

    In the wake of ‘The Sunday Times’ expose of Nigel Farage’s curious connections with convicted criminal George Cottrell, Matthew Steeples highlights an equally curious crony of theirs, Twitter trolling twerp (‘Ian’) Mowbray Jackson

    Like or loathe this definite disruptor, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage MP can now be deservedly branded a hypocrite of the first order.

     

    Prone to slamming political opponents such as ‘Raving Rayner’ Angela Rayner for awkward antics concerning her second home and making a mockery of Sir Keir Starmer over being made a spectacle of concerning Lord Alli and Specsavers, Farage has not only been lambasted for taking a “personal gift” of £5 million from a Thai based tycoon, Christopher Harborne, in recent days, but was well and truly roasted yesterday in a ravaging set of revelations in The Sunday Times.

     

    Whilst the focus of crusading journalist Gabriel Pogrund and his team was on 62-year-old Farage failing to declare being given use of a £4 million Westminster townhouse and countless other benefits by convicted criminal 32-year-old ‘Posh George’ Cottrell (who previously “legally changed his name from ‘Cottrell’ to ‘Cotrel’”), a throwaway paragraph brought in analysis of the involvement a longstanding sworn self-declared enemy of The Steeple Times, a rather tedious Twitter troll who used to go by the name of Mowbray Jackson.

     

    Today, we delve into the details of 59-year-old Jackson (whom fascinatingly now opts for the Christian name of ‘Ian’ on Companies House for records concerning his latest venture, Fispay Ltd), Farage and Cottrell and the links between them their ‘high society’ chums. Be prepared to join the dots between a cretinous collection that jumps from left to right with Adam Boulton, Hugh Grant and Emily Maitlis to one side and Arron Banks, Baroness Meyer and Raheem Kassam to the other.

     

    Follow Matthew Steeples on X at @M_Steeples and The Steeple Times at @SteepleTimes.

     

    Subscribe to our YouTube channel at @mjs2781 or become a member even.

     

    If you haven’t done so already, please support keeping The Steeple Times in the business of telling the stories that the mainstream media don’t dare touch by helping fund our work via Patreon. Even a small donation will help keep us going and will be hugely appreciated.

     

    Buy Matthew Steeples a tea (or better a gin) via Ko-fi.

     

    The lavish life of (‘Ian’) Mowbray Jackson… The missing link with multiple names between Nigel Farage and George Cottrell

    Mowbray Jackson Nigel Farage George Cottrell
    Friends with definite benefits “No Delay – Simples” – Nigel Farage and George Cottrell with (‘Ian’) Mowbray Jackson lurking behind them in a pair of sunglasses attempting to pull a Tom Cruise-esque look during a ‘Respect the Referendum’ protest. This is a mutually beneficial ‘friendship’ that clearly runs deep.
    Mowbray Jackson Arron Banks
    Bombastic businessman Arron Banks, a major supporter of Nigel Farage and Leave.EU, gave evidence before a parliamentary select committee in June 2018. A particularly plump Mowbray Jackson – at one time a data protection officer for Reform UK – was snapped lounging like a lizard behind him.
    Mowbray Jackson George Cottrell Georgia Toffolo Motcombs
    ‘Ian’ or ‘Mowbray’ (depending on what day of the week it is) Jackson with George Cottrell and Georgia Toffolo at the long since shuttered Motcombs restaurant in Belgravia, SW1 circa May 2022. Cottrell dated the ‘Made In Chelsea’ and 2017 ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ winner from 2019 to 2023 and subsequently married the equally controversial BrewDog co-founder James Watt in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on 1st March 2025. Blundell’s Schoolm educated ‘Toff’ happens also to be a longstanding bosom chum of Boris Johnson’s father Stanley Johnson.
    The Sunday Times Nigel Farage George Cottrell Mowbray Jackson Gabriel Pogrund
    On Sunday 5th July 2026, crusading journalist Gabriel Pogrund and his stellar investigative team at ‘The Sunday Times’ published an immensely thorough into the relationship between Nigel Farage and George Cottrell. In it, details of Mowbray Jackson’s alleged involvement was revealed. The paper stated: “One of the companies is owned by Mowbray Jackson, a Reform employee who serves as the party’s data protection officer… Cottrell denied he was heavily involved in the crypto-gambling platform [Tether.bet]. Jackson and Robery declined to comment. A source close to Jackson said he would need to obtain legal advice.”
    Nigel Farage George Cottrell Daddy
    In yesterday’s investigation, “difficult to pin down” George Cottrell was himself highlighted for calling Nigel Farage ‘Daddy’; this was understandably widely mocked on social media. Cottrell was arrested whilst in the company of Nigel Farage at Chicago O’Hare International airport on 22nd July 2016 and federally indicted on 21 counts for conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, blackmail and extortion. After a plea deal in December 2016 and a guilty plea on one count of wire fraud, he was sentenced sentenced and released by Judge Diane Humetewa after having served 8 months in prison.
    Mowbray Jackson Mark Brnovich
    ‘The Finance Guy’ – @OneFinanceGuy on X – has been digging into the ‘interesting’ relationship between ‘daddy’ Nigel Farage and ‘son’ George Cottrell and their associates for many a month. In one post yesterday, 5th July 2026, on the platform he shared a video clip of the latter on a yacht in Montenegro with amongst others Mowbray Jackson and former gambling director and Attorney General of Arizona Mark Brnovich. On 12th January 2026, Brnovich, at one point was nominated (subsequently withdrawn) by Donald Trump to be the ambassador of the United States to Serbia, died at his home in Phoenix aged just 59 after suffering a heart attack.
    Mowbray Jackson George Cottrell Raheem Kassam
    Raheem Kassam with George Cottrell with Mowbray Jackson tailing on their coattails in Parliament Square, SW1A. Kassam has various been worked in finance at Lehman Brothers, at ‘Breitbart’ and ‘The National Pulse’ and been involved in the Henry Jackson Society, UKIP and Reform. In July 2019, the Australian Labor Party called for Kassam to be banned from entering their country and on Wikipedia he is referenced as being “described as far right” given his involvement in a 2018 ‘Free Tommy Robinson’ rally in London.
    Mowbray Jackson Catherine Meyer Ben Glazier Theresa May
    Mowbray Jackson was part of the organising committee for an event Chanel clad charity tin banger Catherine Meyer (now The Right Honourable The Baroness Meyer CBE of Nine Elms in the London Borough of Wandsworth) – a finger wagging woman suspended from the House of Lords for 3 weeks in December 2024 for calling a fellow peer “Lord Poppadom” and touching the hair of black MP Bellavilla Riberio-Addy without her permission – organised courtesy of her mate and then Home Secretary The Right Honourable Theresa May hosted at Downing Street on 23rd May 2012. Others hobnobbing with Cathy Meyer whilst hitting the hooch included the since croaked chippy-not-chirpy ex-ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer, property tycoon turned Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy and his then wife ex-‘Neighbours’ actress Holly Valance, former BBC presenter Sue Lawley OBE, advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell, meddling mouthpiece Clarence Mitchell and the parents of ‘missing’ Madeleine McCann, Gerry and Kate McCann.
    Mowbray Jackson Adam Boulton Petronella Wyatt Hugh Grant
    Social climbing arselicker Mowbray Jackson most definitely celebrates hanging around with what some might turn ‘the great and the good’; pictured from left to right with Petronella Wyatt, daughter of politician and journalist Lord (Woodrow) Wyatt and ex-lover of Boris Johnson, former Sky News anchor Adam Boulton and actor turned Hacked Off press hater Hugh Grant. Jackson’s ‘friendship’ with the Love Actually star is worthy of mention given the latter’s noted involvement campaigning against Brexit and the former’s decided rabid enthusiasm for it. Whether Jackson and Grant still get sloshed together at Brinkley’s in Hollywood Road, SW10 – as they did for many a year – is unknown.
    Mowbray Jackson Emily Maitlis
    Banal braggart Mowbray Jackson has banged-on about his friendship with the rather left-wing television presenter Emily Maitlis – best known for her 2020 ‘Newsnight’ interview that was the catalyst for the downfall of the then Prince Andrew over his relationships with Jeffrey Epstein, Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell – to anyone willing to listen for many, many years. His union with Canadian born and Queen’s College, Cambridge educated Maitlis is curious given her known enthusiasm for amongst others the Labour peer and alleged traitor Lord Mandelson.
    Mowbray Jackson Elizabeth Hurley
    Anything-but-camera-shy show-off Mowbray Jackson has been snapped with ‘actress’ Elizabeth Hurley on occasions also. Hurley, of course, forms part of Hugh Grant’s entourage of press haters, Hacked Off, along with amongst others the dim-witted drippy dunce Prince Harry, ‘Saint Doreen’ Baroness Lawrence, Sir Elton John and his titleless husband David Furnish, ‘actress’ Sadie Frost and ex-MP Simon Hughes. A judgment is due in the case brought by this tedious collection of twerps in their case against Associated Newspapers, publishers of the ‘Daily Mail’ and ‘Mail on Sunday’, on Tuesday 7th July 2026.
    Mowbray Jackson William Cash
    In times past, prior to getting deeply embedded with Reform UK, Jackson was a political agent for UKIP and was snapped in a purple rosette whilst working on journalist William Cash’s failed campaign to get elected for North Warwickshire in Coleshill, Warwickshire in the 2015 General Election.
    Mowbray Jackson Twitter
    ‘Ian’ Mowbray Jackson appears to have deleted his account on Twitter, formerly X, in the wake of ‘The Sunday Times’ expose having first joined the platform in February 2009. His tweets mostly numbered toady responses to society wannabes who’d hosted him at parties and trolling those he loathed – including mostly Matthew Steeples and the likes of anti-Brexit campaigning financier Gina Miller.
    Mowbray Jackson Twitter suspended
    His @mowbrayjackson account was suspended on occasions given his propensity for abusive tweeting. Perhaps, now, this tedious Twitter troll would simply do best to decide what his actual Christian name is and learn the art of silence.

  • ‘Bathtub Bonk Pad’ Back On Market – Ghislaine Maxwell London Home For Sale (Again) For Bonkers £3.25m Price

    ‘Bathtub Bonk Pad’ Back On Market – Ghislaine Maxwell London Home For Sale (Again) For Bonkers £3.25m Price

    WORLD EXCLUSIVE – Ghislaine Maxwell’s notorious London home –the very pad that caused Prince Andrew to pay out £12 million over sexual cavorting allegations relating to a “bathtub bonk” in 2001 – is astoundingly back up for sale for a bonkers sum nearly 100% higher than she ‘sold’ it for just 3 years ago; much of the mucky madam’s furniture bizarrely remains

    Just as the meddling mate of the mendacious mucky madam and her pension pot plundering papa that is Peter Mandelson has been ‘anointed’ in Game of Thrones style as Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the United States of America, it can be revealed that the infamous former London home of Ghislaine Maxwell is back on the market.

     

    Whilst properties, however sordid their histories, come up for sale now and again – for example, when we featured five of the worst ‘murder location houses’ offered for sale in November 2022, we were inundated with further suggestions – the totally unsurprising detail in the current Chestertons listing for 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia is that there is no mention of this mews house’s infamous past owner-occupier.

     

    Interestingly, however, the agency’s ‘current’ photographs of what The Steeple Times mocked in January 2022 as “Randy Andy’s Bathtub Bonk Pad” – given what allegedly went on between the Duke of York and a then 17-year-old then going by the name Virginia Roberts in the first-floor, full-sized bathtub of the residence on the 10th March 2001 – show a property that still includes free-standing furnishings that were present when representatives of the then incarcerated Miss Maxwell sold on 19th April 2021 for £1.75 million against a far more punchy initial asking price of £2.6 million. Indeed, it does seem most curious that the ‘purchasers’ decided to keep a set of naff 1970s tables and chairs that presumably belonged to the convicted sex trafficker – especially given they decided to throw out an equally gaudy pair of velvet curtains from the house that have now ended up on display in a Bristol art gallery as part of exhibition of all sorts of odd things that is rather appropriately titled Grey Unpleasant Land.

     

    In January 2022, ‘The Steeple Times’ was the first publication to share a photograph of the then unrenovated bathroom at 44 Kinnerton Street where Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts (now Virginia Giuffre) allegedly bonked in the tub. The image we shared (top) provided proof that the tub was of a standard size and not “too small for any kind of activity whatsoever,” as Ghislaine Maxwell had stated during a 2015 defamation civil case brought after Maxwell called Giuffre a liar. The case was settled in 2017 in favour of Virginia Giuffre and at that time Ghislaine Maxwell was forced to pay damages. The same bathroom photographed in 2024 (bottom). The flooring and fittings all remain; the tiles have been changed, as have the bath taps.
    In January 2022, ‘The Steeple Times’ was the first publication to share a photograph of the then unrenovated bathroom at 44 Kinnerton Street where Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts (now Virginia Giuffre) allegedly bonked in the tub. The image we shared (top) provided proof that the tub was of a standard size and not “too small for any kind of activity whatsoever,” as Ghislaine Maxwell had stated during a 2015 defamation civil case brought after Maxwell called Giuffre a liar. The case was settled in 2017 in favour of Virginia Giuffre and at that time Ghislaine Maxwell was forced to pay damages. The same bathroom photographed in 2024 (bottom). The flooring and fittings all remain; the tiles have been changed, as have the bath taps.
    When asked about what occurred on the night of 10th March 2001 in the first-floor bathroom at her Kinnerton Street mews house, Ghislaine Maxwell responded: “[Virginia Roberts] then characterized [sic] things took place in my bathroom in the bathtub itself. The tub is too small for any kind of activity whatsoever.” The picture of that very same tub used in marketing material by Wellbelove Quested and more recently Chestertons proved exactly to the contrary.
    When asked about what occurred on the night of 10th March 2001 in the first-floor bathroom at her Kinnerton Street mews house, Ghislaine Maxwell responded: “[Virginia Roberts] then characterized [sic] things took place in my bathroom in the bathtub itself. The tub is too small for any kind of activity whatsoever.” The picture of that very same tub used in marketing material by Wellbelove Quested and more recently Chestertons proved exactly to the contrary.
    A floor plan shared by the likes ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The Sun suggested the first-floor bathroom at 44 Kinnerton Street to be 7-foot, 4 inches by 7-foot, 2-inches. Floor plans shared by Wellboved Quested suggested that the room is actually 8-foot, 4-inches by 8-foot, 2-inches. Either way, there was most definitely plenty of room for two (and whatever activities might have gone on between that particular two-some)…
    A floor plan shared by the likes ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The Sun suggested the first-floor bathroom at 44 Kinnerton Street to be 7-foot, 4 inches by 7-foot, 2-inches. Floor plans shared by Wellboved Quested suggested that the room is actually 8-foot, 4-inches by 8-foot, 2-inches. Either way, there was most definitely plenty of room for two (and whatever activities might have gone on between that particular two-some)…
    Then and Now – The ground floor reception room of the house (top) as it was in “doctor’s waiting room” style in January 2022 (top) and as it now is in December 2024 (bottom) opened up to the kitchen. Note that though a wall and fitted furnishings have been removed and the flooring replaced, the somewhat naff dining table and chairs remain.
    Then and Now – The ground floor reception room of the house (top) as it was in “doctor’s waiting room” style in January 2022 (top) and as it now is in December 2024 (bottom) opened up to the kitchen. Note that though a wall and fitted furnishings have been removed and the flooring replaced, the somewhat naff dining table and chairs remain.

    Laughably lauded by Chestertons as “charming” and “wonderfully bright,” the 1,477 square foot three-storey building has admittedly been knocked around a bit during the current ownership. Gone is a clapped-out kitchen that grubby groper Ghislaine likely never cooked her vegan nosh in and gone also is the wall between that room and the adjoining former “dentist’s waiting room-style” reception room where Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein’s London victims were likely lined-up for the vilest forms of sexual abuse. Also replaced are the fittings in the primary bathroom in what would have been the ‘Mucky Madam Master Suite’ on the top floor, but what is beyond bizarre is that the house’s most horrid bit of history survives for posterity virtually intact. The very same first floor full-sized bathroom where sexual relations allegedly occurred that caused Prince Andrew to allegedly pay £12 million to the aforementioned Virginia Roberts Giuffre (without any admission of guilt) remains virtually unaltered.

     

    In that very bathroom, next to the very landing where the ‘killer’ photograph of Miss Maxwell, Miss Roberts and the late Queen Elizabeth’s favourite son were so inconveniently snapped on 10th March 2001, the very same full-sized shower and the very same full-sized bathtub that The Steeple Times proved Ghislaine Maxwell lied about during her April 2016 deposition at the law offices of Boies Schiller & Flexner in New York in an article we published in January 2022 remains in-situ. Yes, the walls have been retiled and the taps have been changed, but every other element of the room’s grotty days of old remain as a kind of Miss Havisham-esque horror memorial.

     

    When asked during the videotaped and subsequently transcribed 2016 deposition, which was given before one Leslie Fagin, a court reporter and notary public in the State of New York, about the photograph and sexual activities in the first-floor bathroom, Maxwell went full ‘porky-pie’ about her ‘standard’ five-foot-six-inches length bathtub and snapped:

     

    “What I’m representing is that [Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s] entire ludicrous and absurd story of what took place in my house is an obvious lie… She claimed things took place in my bathroom in London. Her characterizations [sic] is just not possible… She then characterized things took place in my bathroom itself. The tub is too small for any type of activity whatsoever.”

     

    Clearly buyers are not flocking to purchase a pad of which Maxwell lied about and one of which Loyd Grossman might ask: “Who the hell would want to pay £3.45 million to live in a pugnacious pad like this?” In spite of spending less than a month on the market, Ghislaine Maxwell’s former lair – complete with its historical bonking bathtub – has just had its price slashed by a not-so-insubstantial £200,000 to ‘just’ £3.25 million.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his shows on YouTube at @mjs2781/streams.

     

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    Then and Now – The somewhat decrepit kitchen, as it was in January 2022 (top), and as it now is, after being opened into the adjoining reception room (bottom) in December 2024.
    Then and Now – The somewhat decrepit kitchen, as it was in January 2022 (top), and as it now is, after being opened into the adjoining reception room (bottom) in December 2024.
    Then and Now – The ‘Mucky Madam Maxwell Suite’ at the top of the house as it was in January 2022 (top) and now is (bottom) in December 2024.
    Then and Now – The ‘Mucky Madam Maxwell Suite’ at the top of the house as it was in January 2022 (top) and now is (bottom) in December 2024.
    The house under renovation in July 2021 and November 2023.
    The house under renovation in July 2021 and November 2023.
    The curtains binned during the renovations were featured in a review by ‘The Guardian’ in November 2024 of a new exhibition that debuted at the Spike Island gallery in Bristol. Amongst the items shown in ‘Grey Unpleasant Land’ are a set of sun-bleached red velvet curtains. Of them, the paper’s Evan Moffitt observed: “Described as having been acquired from the 2020 clearance of 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia. A Google search will tell you that the house belonged to Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted associate of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. It’s understandable why the artists chose not to name her, though without the extra effort, the drapes are a mysterious stage prop. Throughout, the show poses questions about how objects accrue value and meaning, which often comes down to how much or how little they’re framed. Maxwell is very much the elephant in the room alongside items from the same class as the person she set up with underage girls.” One could instead argue that it is curtains for sanity in Britain when Ghislaine Maxwell’s stained curtains are considered worthy as “art exhibits.”
    The curtains binned during the renovations were featured in a review by ‘The Guardian’ in November 2024 of a new exhibition that debuted at the Spike Island gallery in Bristol. Amongst the items shown in ‘Grey Unpleasant Land’ are a set of sun-bleached red velvet curtains. Of them, the paper’s Evan Moffitt observed: “Described as having been acquired from the 2020 clearance of 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia. A Google search will tell you that the house belonged to Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted associate of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. It’s understandable why the artists chose not to name her, though without the extra effort, the drapes are a mysterious stage prop. Throughout, the show poses questions about how objects accrue value and meaning, which often comes down to how much or how little they’re framed. Maxwell is very much the elephant in the room alongside items from the same class as the person she set up with underage girls.” One could instead argue that it is curtains for sanity in Britain when Ghislaine Maxwell’s stained curtains are considered worthy as “art exhibits.”
    A floor plan of 44 Kinnerton Street prior to the renovations that came after the April 2021 sale.
    A floor plan of 44 Kinnerton Street prior to the renovations that came after the April 2021 sale.
    A floor plan of the house illustrating the changes to the ground floor layout.
    A floor plan of the house illustrating the changes to the ground floor layout.
    In July 2021, ‘The Steeple Times’ shared an image of an open door at 44 Kinnerton Street when the house was undergoing external repainting. The bannister pictured clearly is exactly the same one featured in the March 2001 image of Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell on the first-floor landing of the property.
    In July 2021, ‘The Steeple Times’ shared an image of an open door at 44 Kinnerton Street when the house was undergoing external repainting. The bannister pictured clearly is exactly the same one featured in the March 2001 image of Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell on the first-floor landing of the property.
    In 2019, Shaun Attwood of ‘Shaun Attwood’s True Crime Channel’ interviewed a lady who answered the door at 44 Kinnerton Street. In the footage he subsequently uploaded to YouTube, the bannister is again seen still in-situ.
    In 2019, Shaun Attwood of ‘Shaun Attwood’s True Crime Channel’ interviewed a lady who answered the door at 44 Kinnerton Street. In the footage he subsequently uploaded to YouTube, the bannister is again seen still in-situ.

    The Names & Numbers – ‘Mucky Madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s Bathtub Bonk Pad’ – 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, London, SW1X 8ES, United Kingdom

    • Late December 2024 – £200,000 is slashed off the listing price of the property, taking the asking price to £3.25 million ($4.09 million, €3.92 million or درهم15 million), a sum 86% higher than the April 2021 selling price.

     

    • Early December 2024 – 44 Kinnerton Street is again listed for sale, this time by Chestertons. It is priced at £3.45 million ($4.34 million, €4.16 million or درهم15.94 million), a sum 97% higher than the April 2021 selling price, but is now available on a freehold instead of leasehold basis.

     

    • 18th November 2023 – The Sun’s Jane Matthews reported that 44 Kinnerton Street was “getting a major revamp” and was “covered in scaffolding.” Matthews suggested “the new owners” were thought to be a developer and quoted a management accountant named Wendy Howard, “who has worked on Kinnerton Street for ten years,” as saying: “I know [representatives of Maxwell] sold the property fairly quickly and for a discount. I’m surprised, it’s not really the type of house anyone would want to buy. It really has the wrong associations. Personally, I thought the whole situation was seedy and very disappointing… You do see some tourist groups going past, but it’s not very well known that Maxwell used to live around here. Sometimes you see people filming or making documentaries, so sometimes people ask about the house, but not too often.”

     

    • 19th October 2022 – The MailOnline’s Stewart Carter reported that “locals refuse to talk about the black spot on their street” in an article that also suggested the house “has not been lived in since Maxwell sold it… to pay her legal fees in 2021” and added: “It is collecting cobwebs and dust as locals grow increasingly frustrated about its eerie past.” Maxwell’s ‘friend’ – who was meant, but ultimately did not give in evidence in her trial, Kevin Moran, was referenced also. He stated: “It’s all investment – nobody lives here.”

     

    • 14th January 2022 – Property website TheMoveMarket.com values the house at £2.11 million ($2.88 million, €2.53 million or درهم9.75 million), a sum 19% lower than the current asking price for the unrenovated property.

     

    • January 2022 – Estate agents Wellbelove Quested offer the mews house for £2.6 million ($3.6 million, €3.1 million or درهم1 million), an extraordinary increase of 49% on the sale price just 270 days earlier. The house is offered on a lease of 127 years that commenced on 24th June 2014 and previously on their website Wellbelove Quested had marketed the house for a higher price of £2.75 million ($3.738 million, €3.283 million or درهم13.731 million).

     

    • July 2021 – The Steeple Times reports on repainting work to the outside of the house being underway. An open door reveals the infamous staircase bannister to still be in-situ.

     

    • 19th April 2021 – Records confirm the house to have been sold for £1.75 million ($2.39 million, €2.09 million or درهم79 million). Details about the beneficiary of the sum from this sale are not publicly available.

     

    • March 2021 – Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer offered cash from the “pending sale of her £1.45 million ($2 million, €1.74 million or درهم28 million)” home as part of a package when they sought bail for the mucky madam for a third time, the Daily Mail reported. This sum was 44% lower than the September 2020 asking price and 400% higher than the January 1997 purchase price.

     

    • March 2021 – A Knightsbridge estate agent told The Steeple Times: “Knowing the street as I do, 44 is one of the smaller houses which I assume it to be a little over 1,000 square foot in size. Depending on the condition, I estimate the freehold value to be circa £1.8 million to £2 million ($2.5 million to $2.7 million, €2.2 million to €2.4 million or 9درهم million to درهم10 million).”

     

    • December 2020 – Members of the Maxwell family attempted to raise finance on the property but are not successful, The Steeple Times learns from a financier with connections to the Maxwell family and their representatives. They were rejected on the basis of the “toxicity” of their familial name.

     

    • September 2020 – Estate agents Aylesford list 44 Kinnerton Street for sale for £2.6 million ($3.6 million, €3.1 million or درهم1 million) on (it was claimed) a freehold basis, a sum 797% than the January 1997 purchase price. They subsequently later reduce the asking price to £2.1 million ($2.9 million, €2.5 million or درهم10.5 million) “according to a leading property expert.”

     

    • August 2019 – According to Insider, a woman with “long hair [who] appeared to be in her 60s” was seen entering the property. She “denied that the socialite owns or lived in the house, claiming instead that the elusive socialite lived elsewhere down the street.”

     

    • 10th March 2001 – Prince Andrew allegedly had sexual relations with 17-year-old Virginia Roberts in a bathroom in the property. He continues to deny this occurred whilst claiming that a photograph of himself with Miss Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell on the first floor of building is a fake also.

     

    • 22nd January 1997 – Ghislaine Maxwell paid £290,000 ($396,000, €347,000 or درهم5 million) for the three-storey leasehold mews house. It is situated at the heart of the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor Estate.

     

    • 1989 to 1995 – Ghislaine Maxwell is known to have resided at 69 Stanhope Mews East, South Kensington, London, SW7 5QT. Her father bought it for her two years before his mysterious death and she reportedly “groomed and befriended Minor Victim 3 in London, England, between approximately 1994 and 1995… Maxwell introduced Minor Victim 3 to Epstein and during those interactions, Maxwell encouraged Minor Victim 3 to massage Epstein, knowing that Epstein would engage in sex acts with Minor Victim 3. During those massages, Epstein sexually abused Minor Victim 3” at that very property. It was sold for £267,000 ($365,000, €320,000 or درهم3 million) on 15th March 1995 and then again for £1.75 million ($2.39 million, €2.10 million or درهم8.77 million) on 30th August 2019.

     

    Further images of the house (as presented in December 2024) illustrate internal redecoration has occurred, but that not much has been done with the external roof terrace…

    Second bedroom 2024
    Master bedroom 2024 1
    Master bathroom 2024
    Roof terrace 2024

    THAT 2001 Photo STILL NOT PROVEN A FAKE – The 10th March 2001 photograph of Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell at 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia

    10th March 2001 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell Virginia Roberts Prince Andrew

    The photograph, taken supposedly by Jeffrey Epstein on the first-floor landing at 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, London, SW1X 8ES, United Kingdom, has been shared by the world’s media in hundreds of thousands of articles and analysed countless times by countless experts.

     

    In November 2019, the Daily Mail’s Inderdeep Bains called it: “The photograph that WON’T go away” and it, as of date, has NEVER been discredited. Amongst evidence suggesting it to be perfectly real is that:

     

    • The setting of the photograph has been confirmed as genuine by the Maxwell family. Of it, in March 2021, Ian Maxwell told Radio 4’s Today programme: “I do recognise that setting.”
    • The window in the picture has the same features as the front first floor windows of 44 Kinnerton Street.
    • The width of the first floor landing is accurate to the measurements shown in the floor plan of the sales brochure prepared on the 14th October 2021 by estate agents Wellbelove Quested.
    • Though he claimed to be “at a loss to explain this particular photograph” during the 2019 BBC interview, the Duke of York has admitted to having visited 44 Kinnerton Street. He stated: “I don’t think I think ever went upstairs… The dining room and everything was on the ground floor.” Contradicting the royal, sources have claimed that the room behind him, Roberts and Maxwell in the photograph was used as a sitting room.
    • The heights of all three individuals in the picture look to be accurate proportionately.
    • Prince Andrew’s “chubby fingers” are clear to see. The Queen’s second son’s fingers are clearly “chubby fingers” and these very same “chubby fingers” have been seen hundreds of thousands of times in hundreds of thousands of other photographs.
    • Prince Andrew has claimed he only ever goes out in London in a suit and tie. Images of him in open necked shirts in the capital – including one of him leaving the nightclub Chinawhite – prove to the contrary.
    • Prince Andrew has claimed he does not “do” hugs and and embraces in photographs. Images of him taken in St Tropez embracing the US socialite Chris Von Aspen in July 2007 suggest the alleged non-sweater is wrong also on that score.
    • The outfit worn by Virginia Roberts – a woman who has already received financial settlements from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell – has been seen on her in photographs of her at Naomi Campbell’s 2001 birthday party in France. In spite of some suggestions that a lady only wears an outfit once, we counter that a lady in Miss Roberts’ unfortunate situation would be forced to wear what she was told appealed to those in control of her wished her to wear.
    • Matthew Steeples of The Steeple Times and Shaun Attwood of Shaun Attwood’s True Crime Channel have both seen inside 44 Kinnerton Street and the stair rail shown in the photo remains in place and is thus genuine to the setting. Attwood subsequently released film footage of this on his YouTube channel and The Steeple Times shared its most recent image of the open front door with the stair rail beyond in July 2021.
    • Many experts have repeatedly stated photo manipulation was in its infancy at the time that this image first surfaced.
    • The FBI have never questioned the authenticity of the image.

     

    The TRUE FAKE PHOTO – The August 2019 photograph of Ghislaine Maxwell at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant

    Ghislaine-Maxwell-In-N-Out-Burger-fake-photo

    It must be remembered that the now convicted mucky madam sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell was likely involved in leaking that infamous “too perfect” photoshopped image of herself at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Los Angeles in August 2019. Aside from this wicked woman – whom bangs on about being vegan constantly now – “planting herself for a double-double” burger, that image was subsequently debunked by The Cut. For them, Bridget Read stated:

     

    “The intrepid Daily Mail checked out the location of the burger joint in Hollywood where Maxwell was allegedly spotted by a regular last week and found some odd discrepancies. Notably, a bus stop in the background of the shot shows an advertisement for the movie Good Boys – which the company that operates the ad space said has never been there. The bus stop currently displays an ad for a local hospital, which it says has been there since July 28. Maxwell was supposedly photographed at the In-N-Out on August 12.”

     

    “Questions about Maxwell’s lunch outing have fed into the already robust set of conspiracy theories around Epstein, his high-profile acquaintances, and his death. Why was a second smartphone on the In-N-Out table? Why did Maxwell never stick a straw in either her soda or her shake? Why did the diner who supposedly photographed her have such a nice camera, with a lens that took a very clear photo? It doesn’t help that the In-N-Out employees at that location have been forbidden, supposedly by their employer, to talk about Maxwell’s visit.”

     

    “If [family friend and attorney Leah] Saffian did indeed leak the photo of Maxwell, it was likely to try and throw the FBI off her scent… If the In-N-Out photo is indeed doctored, Maxwell could be anywhere and could show up anywhere she pleases. What’s next? Some predictions: eating a hot dog on the steps of the Met, posing with a cactus at Joshua Tree, riding a unicycle at Burning Man, or painting her nails on the C train.”

     

  • Margaret Burke

    Margaret Burke

    Margaret Burke, a former Neo-Nazi supporting HMP Holloway jailbird turned one-time Labour Party councillor, happily hung around with hypocrites Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Flint; will she get a ‘photo op’ with the drippy dope Sir Keir Starmer during General Election 2024?

    The Tories may have a former member of the IRA as a councillor in Croydon in the form of Maria Gatland, but Labour proudly featured a convicted Neo Nazi racist jailbird and hunt saboteur on one of their party’s websites in the late 2010s.

     

    Elected as a councillor in Milton Keynes in 2012 in spite of having previously dressed in Nazi-style uniforms and also having recruited youths to daub buildings with swastikas, Margaret Burke – pictured above with fellow hypocrite, gypsy basher Diane Abbott MP – was a member of a repugnant group known as the November 9th Society in the early 1980s. Today, instead, this wicked wastrel claims to “look after hedgehogs and birds and anything else that comes her way.”

    Whilst a councillor, this anything but innocent “bit of a berk” also neglected to mention her time in Her Majesty’s Prison Holloway for vandalising a butcher’s shop whilst a member of the Animal Liberation Front. Bombastic bore Burke, however, was prepared to share that she “held surgeries for one hour per week for her constituents every Friday evening.”

     

    In the context of this Labour loon, don’t mention the war and don’t mention her friendliness with not only Abbott, but also her disgraceful ex-lover, Jeremy Corbyn. He was happy to pose for a picture with her in 2016 even.

     

    One now has to ask: “Will the super fan of the bombastic bigot ‘Nasty Nat’ Natalie Elphicke and all-round drippy dope Sir Keir Starmer be seeking out Margaret Burke for a ‘photo op’ during the General Election 2024 campaign?” Shame on anyone who associates with this vile piece of toe rag.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his current nightly show on YouTube at 8.30pm daily.

     

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    Caroline Flint MP with Labour Neo Nazi Margaret Bruke
    Of the one-time Neo Nazi Margaret Burke, the now ex-Labour MP The Right Honourable Caroline Flint once shockingly enthused: “Margaret has been a community activist for some time and also runs a wildlife hospital and as you can imagine is very well known. Relatively new to the Labour Party she has taken to knocking on doors like a duck to water. Out in groups but also alone, Margaret is clocking up her target vote. She is an inspiration to those who avoid the doorstep.” If she’d been around when they were in power, might Caroline Flint – a woman bizarrely endorsed in 2019 as “first rate” by Boris Johnson – have lauded Stalin, Mussolini or Hitler perhaps also?
    Diane Abbott MP with Labour Neo Nazi Margaret Burke 2012 tweet
    Two mental maniacs come together… Dimwitted dunce Diane Abbott was happy to be snapped with the ex-Neo Nazi and since ex-Labour councillor in April 2012 in Milton Keynes. Excusing her previous antics, another Milton Keynes Labour councillor, Kevin Wilson, pathetically bleated of a woman who, along with her [then] husband [Terry Flynn], “wore Nazi-style uniforms and recruited gangs of local youths to hand out racist leaflets and daub buildings with swastikas”: “We were aware of Margaret’s past and we questioned her at length. We had no doubt at all that her misdemeanours of 20 or 30 years ago were serious matters but I do not believe that somebody should be punished or penalised for what they did such a long time ago.”
    Jeremy Corbyn with Neo Nazi Labour Margaret Burke
    The ex-jailbird Margaret Burke grinned like a Cheshire cat when she got herself into a snap with Jeremy Corbyn in 2016. At the time, according to ‘Guido Fawkes,’ the then Labour leader was quoted as telling her: “Thank you very much for all the hard work you have done.” One can only wonder if this wicked woman gifted him a swastika in return.
  • By George – It’s Time To Eat Your Hat

    By George – It’s Time To Eat Your Hat

    Nikolay Kalinin digests the result of the Batley and Spen by-election and reminds firebrand fruitcake George Galloway to eat his hat

    It didn’t seem likely, but Labour has managed to keep the Batley and Spen seat – albeit with a minimal majority of just 323 votes, with Kim Leadbeater narrowly beating Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson.

     

    This result brings an end to what has been a campaign that has been described as “a battleground” by one constituent, mainly due to the divisions within the Muslim community, most of whom have condemned Labour’s stance on foreign policy issues such as Palestine and have not forgotten Blair’s support for the Iraq war.

     

    The man who helped further inflame these divisions, George Galloway, who in the days leading up to the election complained about the Batley council taking down his posters for not meeting election requirements, has responded to Labour’s win by transforming into Britain’s answer to Donald Trump and telling reporters: “On multiple grounds, we will apply to the court for this election result.”

     

    During the campaign Galloway claimed that if Labour came in any other place but third, he would eat his own hat, and if he truly is a politician of honour, he should now keep his word and do just such.

     

    The campaign has also seen allegations of dirty tactics used by groups in order to ruin Labour’s chances, with the most notable example being the distribution of a fake TUC leaflet highlighting Sir Keir Starmer’s support for BLM and stating that “it is high time that white people acknowledged their privilege and gave something back to people of colour.”

     

    What Labour must remember is that their minimal majority should actually be a wake-up call for them, even if Conservative MPs and members of the public have attributed the narrow defeat of the Tories to Matt Hancock’s affair and the government pushing back “freedom day.”

     

    Ever since MP Jo Cox – who was the sister of the new MP Leadbeater – was murdered in 2016 by a member of the far-right, there have been attempts to divide the community, and the events at local grammar school are the latest which have allowed people like George Galloway to exploit divisions for their own gain.

     

    Even though Galloway did not manage to topple Starmer and Labour, he did manage to cause significant damage to Labour by taking away a sizeable amount of their Muslim base, notably by condemning LGBTQ+ inclusive education and promising to give control of what children can learn to their parents, which appealed to much of the Muslim population.

     

    Labour should work as hard as possible within their English constituencies in order to prevent division, not only regarding the issue of Brexit but also regarding local issues. Starmer should also not restrain himself from condemning Johnson’s government at every opportunity, because only then will ‘Bosie The Clown’ be made to take accountability.

     

    George Galloway Eat Your Hat
    After his antics in Batley & Spen simply caused division, but allowed Labour its narrow victory, it is time to remind George Galloway of his own words and to make him follow up on his promise and consume his own headwear.
    Commenting on the result for the ‘Daily Mail,’ Simon Walters observed: “[The] Batley by-election loss proves Boris Johnson needs a shot in the arm all over again… One Conservative from a ‘Red Wall’ constituency who campaigned there told me: ‘I owe my seat to Boris but people in Batley were not happy with his dithering on Hancock. It was tin-eared.’”
    Sir Keir Starmer may have been just about saved from obliteration in Batley and Spen, but what must be remembered about the campaign is that George Galloway used the seat to spark what Lady Shami Chakrabarti, the former attorney general for England and Wales, termed “complex northern brew toxic.” Going further, Lady Chakrabarti added: “Galloway has form for misogyny, having made offensive comments about forced marriage in the hateful campaign he ran against Naz Shah in Bradford West in 2015, and having speculated that sex assault allegations made against Julian Assange were merely ‘bad sexual etiquette.’ In his latest campaign, the dexterous shapeshifter has made hay from a nasty dispute about images of the prophet being shown in a classroom, one minute affirming people’s ‘right to defend religious sensibilities’ and the next sidling up to self-styled ‘free speech activist’ Lawrence Fox.”
    George Galloway has now vowed to challenge the result in court. In a statement, he remarked: “The result of this by-election cannot stand. We will take whatever legal measures necessary to have that result set-aside. There are multiple reasons… But the tin hat was put on the banana republic exercise that has been called this parliamentary by-election by the returning officer’s decision to refuse to grant a recount when the margin of victory was less than one per cent.”
  • The Return of the Yellow Card 2021

    The Return of the Yellow Card 2021

    Nikolay Kalinin analyses the reasons behind the Liberal Democrats’ success in the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election; is Boris Johnson about to suffer further at the hands of the ‘yellow peril’?

    A month after the Conservatives obliterated Labour in Hartlepool, the Liberal Democrats have struck back by winning Chesham and Amersham, a Conservative stronghold since its creation in 1974.

     

    The Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Green won 56.7% of the vote, compared to the Conservatives 35.5% of the vote; this is not surprising, considering the fact that 55% of the constituency’s voters supported remaining in the EU in 2016, which reflects the region’s more liberal, middle-class electorate.

     

    Although Brexit was still a prevalent issue during the campaign, the HS2 was a more major concern in the lead-up to the election, as many individuals within the constituency were concerned that the government’s plans to remove the locals’ rights to decide on developments would lead to the railway system being built in the Chilterns. Home County areas like Chesham and Amersham were the place where Reform UK was able to make gains back in 2019 due to their promise to scrap the HS2, and it’s clear that the Lib Dems capitalised on that ‘NIMBY’ attitude.

     

    The demographics have also been influential in determining the outcome, since many within the area are young, middle-class liberal voters who have moved out of London and who were more likely to vote Remain in 2016.

     

    Not only is this the greatest thing to happen to Lib Dems in a long time, but also the victory has shown that the “blue wall” in Southern England is not unbreakable, a fact that was teased back in May when the party lost several councillors in strongholds such as Tunbridge Wells, Surrey and Chipping Norton, and also when they lost the Oxfordshire council.

     

    The Lib Dems ability to appeal to the locals’ concerns regarding HS2 should show Labour MPs the importance of appealing to the needs of the people in their constituency; at the same time, it also should be of serious concern to Boris Johnson, because even though he can bring down the red wall, the opposition parties can do the same.

     

    Much of this is because according to Ed Davey, the people in traditionally-Conservative constituencies “feel they’re being ignored by the Conservatives, taken for granted.” One southern Conservative MP further elaborated by stating: “There’s an element that our party is trying too hard to be Brexiteers”.

     

    The defeat of the Conservatives in the by-election should be taken seriously by the public and by the politicians, because this could be a foreshadowing to further defeats of Conservatives in the south of England – especially the Home Counties – as the party tries to appeal to more Northern working-class voters, which will definitely alienate the more traditional base of the Conservative party in the South who are more liberal.

     

    Ed Davey Chesham and Amersham blue wall
    Sir Ed Davey celebrated his party’s win in Chesham and Amersham – where his party’s candidate Sarah Green got 21,517 votes (56.7% vote share) as opposed to the Conservative Party’s Peter Fleet’s 13,489 (35.5% vote share) – by hammering at a wall of blue bricks in the style of Timmy Mallett. Overturning a 16,000 Conservative majority with 8,028 more votes than her rival, Green increased her party’s percentage share by 30.4%.
    In the by-election, Labour came off even worse than the Tories with just 622 votes and of her win Sarah Green remarked: “Tonight the voice of Chesham and Amersham is unmistakable. Together we have said, ‘enough is enough, we will be heard and this government will listen.’” The by-election was caused by the death in April of former Welsh Secretary Dame Cheryl Gillan. In 2019, she retained the seat with more than half of the vote. But the Conservative majority has been steadily decreasing since the 2015 General Election, when it was 23,920, with UKIP coming second.
  • The Gavinator vs. The Clown

    The Gavinator vs. The Clown

    Nikolay Kalinin contrasts ‘The Gavinator’ Gavin Newsom’s reopening of California with Boris Johnson’s still closed Britain and slams the latter for allowing the Indian variant to spread

    Weeks after letting the Indian variant of COVID-19 – now dubbed the Delta variant – to get past the borders despite supposedly cutting off all communications with India, Boris Johnson has been forced to delay ‘Freedom Day’ to 19th July. Once again, ‘Bosie The Clown’ was too late to close the borders in time.

     

    The nation’s finest gammons have responded to the news in a fashion that can only be described as “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” with GB News’ fruitcake Dan Wootton stating: “Those who know continued lockdowns are wrong have a duty to speak up,” while washed-up actor Laurence Fox and local weather loony Piers Corbyn predictably participated in yet another anti-lockdown protest.

     

    Elsewhere, the state of California, which for the past 15 months has been battered by the pandemic, has fully reopened its economy, lifting measures such as social distancing, although large events such as sports will still be restricted. In addition to that, vaccinated Californians can go to most places without a face covering. I really hate to say it, but Americans led by ‘The Gavinator,’ Governor Gavin Newsom, have done something incredibly genius in a while.

     

    The UK government meanwhile, aims to offer a vaccine to people over the age of 18 by the end of the week, in order to achieve the target of the entire British adult population receiving a first dose of the vaccine.

     

    What’s surprising is that even though more people have been vaccinated in the UK than in California, yet more and more people in the UK are getting hospitalised. Much of this has to do with the Delta variant, which the government has foolishly allowed in and which has reduced the efficiency of the vaccines; for example, protection of AstraZeneca has fallen from 73% for the Alpha variant to 60% for the Delta variant.

     

    The delay has also resulted in the government once again considering the implementation of vaccine passports for large events such as sports matches. Personally, I don’t think it’s a risk worth taking because of the reduced vaccine efficiency – meaning that once again the safest option is sadly to extend restrictions.

     

    Let’s put this simply: All this comes because of the stupidity of nepotistic Prime Minister Johnson and misinformation spreaders like Fox and Corbyn and it is jolly well time they realised the errors of their ways and saw sense.

     

    Gavin Newsom tweet
    On Tuesday, Gavin Newsom shared California’s good news on Twitter. He remarked: “40 million vaccines. One of the lowest COVID rates in the country. California is BACK and fully reopen!” Earlier, he went further in sharing: “It’s reopening day. We’ve administered over 40 million vaccines. Now… No more social distancing. No more capacity limits. No more colors or county tiers. And if you’re vaccinated – no more masks. It’s a good day.” Shouldn’t Britain learn from this?
    Indian variant COVID-19 wedding on a plane
    Ludicrously in May, the BBC reported that an Indian couple “chartered a plan and held a mid-air wedding with more than 160 guests in an effort to escape coronavirus restrictions.” Meanwhile in April, ‘The Times of India’ reported: “India’s super-rich paid tens of thousands of pounds to get to Britain by private jets ahead of the Covid-hit country being added to the UK’s travel red list even as some charter flights arranged for others were denied landing permits. The website FlightAware show that eight private jets – which would have cost £70,000 each (around Rs 72 lakh) upwards to charter – arrived from India at London Luton airport in the 24 hours before the travel restrictions kicked in at 8.30am IST on Friday. Four of these arrived from Mumbai, three from Delhi and one from Ahmedabad.”
    Yesterday in the House of Commons, Sir Keir Starmer quite rightly slammed Boris Johnson for failing to prevent the Delta variant from reaching the UK from India.

    The Indian/Delta Variant Timeline…

    – 1st April – Ministers told about the new strain.

    – 2nd April – Pakistan and Bangladesh added to the red list, but not India.

    – 15th April – Public told of this.

    – 16 April – Prime Minister’s India trip still on.

    – 19th April – Prime Minister’s trip cancelled and India added to red list.

    – 23rd April – Ban finally kicks in.

     

    The 3-week delay brought 20,000 passengers from India into the UK.

     

    In response, Boris Johnson remarked: “We did all we could.”

     

  • A Hiding in Hartlepool

    A Hiding in Hartlepool

    Nikolay Kalinin shares his thoughts on Labour’s electoral hiding in Hartlepool

    On Friday, came the result that everybody expected: The Labour Party lost the Hartlepool by-election to the Conservatives and for the first time since the constituency was created in 1974, a party other than Labour has the seat.

     

    The outcome is both surprising and not surprising; after all, back in 2016 nearly 70% of Hartlepool voters supported leaving the EU, and the successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout has ensured that the government has the majority of public support. Yet in 2017, the Corbyn led Labour managed to retain the seat, even gaining the majority of the vote, and in the 2019 election Labour retained the seat, even though the party was seen as the biggest opponent of Brexit.

     

    The truth is that there’s no single reason why Labour lost the by-election; Lord Mandelson for example has attributed Labour’s defeat to the “two Cs – Corbyn and COVID,” while casting Brexit as a secondary issue: “Believe it or not, not on one door that I knocked did a single voter mention Brexit to me. The one thing they did raise with me however is Jeremy Corbyn – he is still casting a very dark cloud over Labour,” Mandelson remarked.

     

    Labour’s defeat and Jill Mortimer’s win also lies in the absence of the Brexit Party, now named Reform UK; back in 2019 the party split the vote, gaining 25.8% whereas the Conservatives gained 28.9%, which was instrumental in allowing Labour to win with just 37% of the vote. Had the Brexit Party not run that year, the Conservatives would have definitely won.

     

    The disconnect between Labour and the electorate can be evidenced in Friday’s episode of BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, where several callers voiced their dissatisfactions with the party; one Conservative voter and small business owner stated that Labour “have taken Hartlepool for granted” and “chose a guy who was a devout Remainer.” Another caller added that Labour “needs to work on actually speaking to the working classes again” and connect with “small business owners, self-employed, Deliveroo drivers” as they “are the new working class.”

     

    The choice of Paul Williams as Labour’s candidate for Hartlepool was also a factor in the party’s undoing in the by-election, since his choice once again evokes a disconnect between Labour and the voters they are trying to appeal to; not only was Williams an MP for another constituency – namely Stockton South – but he also opposed Brexit when most of the voters in his seat voted to leave the EU. You shouldn’t choose a Remainer to represent a Brexiteer constituency, just like you shouldn’t choose Priti Patel as ambassador for a mental health organisation, would be my conclusion.

     

    Even Sir Keir Starmer seems to agree that Labour has been disconnected with the voters, as he reacted to the election results by saying, “Very often we’ve been talking to ourselves, instead of to the country, and we’ve lost the trust of working people, particularly in places like Hartlepool. I intend to do whatever is necessary to fix that.”

     

    To a lesser extent another reason for Labour’s defeat is the fact that their previous MP, Mike Hill, was a sexual predator, which makes me wonder: “Why was Stephen Crabb, Conservative MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire, not forced out of his seat considering he was shown to be a degenerate with an unrestrained sexual desire.”

     

    So, what is my overall analysis? Labour’s defeat in Hartlepool and the collapse of an important part of the ‘Red Wall’ was brought on by a wide range of factors, ranging from the time of Corbyn’s leadership, the successful vaccination rollout by the Conservative government, and also the issue over EU, which suggests that Brexit is still a prevalent issue among the British public.

     

    Many would blame Corbyn for where the party is now, and I can agree that he dragged Labour down in 2019, but the truth is that Sir Keir might actually drag them down even further; whereas Corbyn tried to appeal to the “new working class” of young workers – which was essential in getting more young people to vote in 2017 – Starmer has decided to go after the older homeowners who are more likely to vote Conservative.

     

    If Labour wants to regain the seat and have a chance at challenging ‘Bosie The Clown’ and his sleazy Eton friends in 2024, they must connect with their core working-class electorate, no matter whether they voted for Brexit or not. The ‘Wallpapergate’ sleaze scandal seems to have no impact on the government at all, so it’s probably best if Labour now instead dedicates its time to connecting with those that actually could get them elected.

     

    Pictured top: Sir Keir Starmer campaigning in Hartlepool with wannabe MP for the Paul Williams.

     

    A Hiding in Hartlepool 2021 – Labour loses Hartlepool to the Tories – Nikolay Kalinin shares his thoughts on Labour’s electoral hiding in Hartlepool.
    A Hiding in Hartlepool 2021 – Jill Mortimer didn’t win over voters in Hartlepool. Labour, in fact, lost them.
  • Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls

    Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls

    Susie Dent shares the fascinating origin of “going to the polls” just as Count Binface looks to get more votes than Laurence Fox in spite of the latter having a ludicrous £5 million campaign pot

    With voting underway across the country, “that woman in Dictionary Corner” Susie Dent this morning shared with her 753,000 followers on Twitter the origin of “going to the polls” this morning:

     

    Origin of the day: the ‘poll’ in ‘going to the polls’ originally meant ‘head’, referring to the counting of heads or votes. A ‘noddypoll’ was an incompetent fool, a ‘clod-poll’ a blockhead, and a ‘tadpoll’ (later ‘tadpole’) a ‘toad-head’.        

     

    Referencing what a lacklustre bag of bilge Londoners have been offered by the mainstream parties and echoing Nikolay Kalinin’s analysis of Labour’s national multifaceted mess for The Steeple Times yesterday, Inside Croydon declared of the campaign:

     

    “It has been a very long, and very tedious, London election campaign, but for some of the capital’s voters, perhaps bewildered by the multitude of different voting systems employed and vast number of candidates for Mayor or the London Assembly, there has been one bright spot: Count Binface.”

     

    “In elections that were postponed from 2020, among the various races-within-the-race for City Hall, there is a fascination among those who long ago tired of the lies of Tory Shaun Bailey or the deadly dull platitudes of Sadiq Khan (did you know: his father was a London bus driver?), the idea that a geezer with a bin on his head could attract more votes than the spittle-flecked campaign of Laurence Fox has lightened the mood these past couple of weeks.”

     

    “And what’s more, unlike so much of so many of the pointless political campaigns, Binface is actually doing some good, by raising thousands of pounds for homelessness charities.”

     

    Elsewhere on social media yesterday, Count Binface himself shared an amusing video based on Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody asking his followers to make him their first choice today. The Steeple Times’ editor Matthew Steeples duly obliged when he headed to St Columba’s Church of Scotland in Pont Street, SW1 this morning and casted a protest for Max Fosh as his second choice also.

     

    Going to the Polls – Count Binface morphed into Whitney Houston to share his final pitch to be the next Mayor of London “and/or the UK’s next Eurovision entry.” He urged: “Make me your first choice vote, and together we will crush the loopy candidates. (You know who I mean.)”
    Going to the Polls – Susie Dent, as ever, brought a bit of insight on polling day 2021.
    Going to the Polls – Boris Johnson was escorted to vote in Westminster by his latest baby mama Carrie Symonds at just before 8am this morning. Whether she had to help the ‘noddypoll’ PM mark his voting card or not is unknown.
    Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls – Fox v Binface – Susie Dent shares the fascinating origin of “going to the polls” just as Count Binface looks to get more votes than Laurence Fox in spite of the latter having a ludicrous £5 million campaign pot.
    Going to the Polls – Many Twitter users mocked the ex-actor Fox and remarked of their desire for Count Binface to actually be his ex-wife Billie Piper in disguise.
    Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls – Fox v Binface – Susie Dent shares the fascinating origin of “going to the polls” just as Count Binface looks to get more votes than Laurence Fox in spite of the latter having a ludicrous £5 million campaign pot.
    Going to the Polls – The parody Boris Johnson account went further and declared: “To be honest, I don’t care if we take Hartlepool, as long as Count Binface beats that streak of piss, Laurence Fox.” 1,200 clicked “love” in response. Author Emma Kennedy added: “When Count Binface gets more votes than Waitrose Tommy Robinson tomorrow, I look forward to the 3682 5k thinkpieces/profile articles in The Telegraph and Sunday Times telling us what a brave visionary Count Binface is. Also: BBCQT AHOY!” and got 1,600 “loves” also.
    Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls – Fox v Binface – Susie Dent shares the fascinating origin of “going to the polls” just as Count Binface looks to get more votes than Laurence Fox in spite of the latter having a ludicrous £5 million campaign pot.
    Going to the Polls – John O’Connell announced: “Duty done. I voted. Now I can freely spend the rest of the day taking the piss out of Shaun Bailey and Laurence Fox, and cheering on Count Binface.”
  • Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess

    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess

    Nikolay Kalinin suggests that in spite of their crusade against Tory sleaze, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer is failing to make any inroads and finds himself in a multifaceted mess

    A week ago, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer attempted to present himself as the superhero British politics needs in order to rid the country of Tory sleaze. He proffered that his scrutiny at Prime Minister’s Questions and photo-ops at John Lewis illustrated that Labour will annihilate the Tories in tomorrow’s elections simply because the governing party are just ‘no good.’

     

    Yet, the truth for Sir Keir is actually far bleaker and a multifaceted mess, as ever since February the gap between the Conservatives and Labour in the polls has been increasing in the governing party’s favour and this has mostly been due to the UK government’s incredibly successful vaccination programme.

     

    Even after the ‘Wallpapergate’ scandal, it seems like nothing much has changed, as a YouGov poll has projected that on 6th May, Labour is most likely to lose 59 seats in ‘Red Wall’ local councils, whereas the Conservatives are set to gain 90. Furthermore, 38% of people in ‘Red Wall’ council areas have stated that Boris Johnson would “make the best Prime Minister,” compared to just 30% for Starmer.

     

    The by-election in the Hartlepool constituency meanwhile – which has been described as the first litmus test of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership – has also left many expecting Labour will lose their hold over the area. A poll conducted by Good Morning Britain concluded that 50% of the people interviewed in the area would vote for Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer, compared to the 33% that would vote for Labour candidate Paul Williams.

     

    In even worse news for Labour, another GMB poll concluded that most people in Hartlepool had favourable feelings towards Conservatives (46%), compared to Labour’s 31%. Furthermore, 45% of people expressed negative feelings towards Labour, compared to 31% who expressed negativity towards Conservatives. It seems therefore like Labour is on the path to losing the seat, which has been controlled by them since its establishment in 1974.

     

    Still, there has also been evidence in the last few days that suggests otherwise; a recent UK voting intention poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies has seen the Conservatives’ lead being slashed by 4%, whereas Labour has gained 4% in the polls, meaning that the gap between both is now a mere 2%.

     

    As expected, Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan is expected to retain his position as he maintains a fairly stable lead in the polls, with predictions that he’ll get 61% in the first round whereas his hapless Conservative rival Shaun Bailey will achieve a mere 39%.

     

    There’s a dangerously high chance that the Conservatives will be able to use the vaccination success in order to win over the voters in councils and in Hartlepool, who will ignore the fact that their PM has used donated money for his own expenses and didn’t even disclose it.

     

    Why has Sir Keir Starmer, in general, failed to deliver a fatal blow to the Tories in the lead-up to the elections? It’s most likely due to lack of a uniting ideology, but more importantly due to the lack of opposition; because of the government’s role in fighting against COVID-19, it’s possible that the role of Labour as an opposition party has been substantially reduced, as they are actually unable to scrutinise the Tories like they would normally have had had there been no pandemic. In some way, Sir Keir seems to be lacking the appeal that Jeremy Corbyn had as Labour leader, which allowed the party to receive an influx of members after decades of falling membership.

     

    So far, the sleaze scandals have not hurt the Conservatives at all – as a matter of fact support for them has been increasing – and even more surprisingly the Labour Party that has been leading the campaign against sleaze is getting pummeled in the polls. It truly is concerning that a party that has such a large lack of connection with people is leading in the polls, because this should not happen in a country that is supposedly a representative democracy. We’ll just have to wait and see, but a very important first signal will emerge with the results tomorrow.

     

    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess – Sir Keir Starmer certainly did not help himself when he found himself kicked out of a pub in Bristol in April. His minder’s bullyboy conduct reflected very badly upon him and the fact that his aides had not checked the venue out first shows a shocking lack of coordination on the Labour Party’s part.
    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess 2021 – Labour fail to make inroads – Nikolay Kalinin suggests that in spite of their crusade against Tory sleaze, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer is failing to make any inroads and finds himself in a multifaceted mess.
    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess – Sir Keir Starmer believes: “Another future is possible,” but thus far he has failed to convince he is the man who could deliver such in post-coronavirus pandemic Britain.
  • Moron of the Moment – Dan Wootton

    Moron of the Moment – Dan Wootton

    Dominic Cummings mouthpiece Dan Wootton yet again shows himself to be a bit of a berk in attacking both ‘Tatler’ and Sir Keir Starmer in one hit in his column in ‘The Sun’

    Dan Wootton has previously been branded a “deeply unpleasant” sort and today he yet again showed his true credentials in attacking two completely unrelated entities, Tatler and Sir Keir Starmer, in his diabolically dire column in The Sun.

     

    Executive editor of the banned-in-Liverpool ‘paper’ Wootton – a New Zealander known for his “less than stellar career” according to Zelo Street – pathetically branded “dripping-with-bile” Tatler a “repulsive… bible for the elite… that makes my skin crawl” simply because it had dared to criticise the Duchess of Cambridge. He raged: “Tatler should be shunned because of the vile way it perpetuates a class system that does so much damage to society. Not Quite Our Magazine, Darling.”

     

    Moron of the Moment – Dan Wootton – ‘The Sun’s’ Dan Wootton yet again shows himself to be a bit of a berk in attacking both ‘Tatler’ and Sir Keir Starmer in one hit.
    Dan Wootton slammed the “lack of class from snobs at Tatler” on Friday in his “big exclusives, bold opinion” column.

    Turning to Sir Keir Starmer, whom thus far has shown himself as quite the stellar opposite of Jeremy Corbyn, self-declared “working-class lad” Wootton’s analysis was clear: “The same old politics from the same old Labour… Up to its old tricks.”

     

    Thanks Dan; perhaps return to upsetting “Warrington’s finest export” Kerry Katona, you were more effective at that. Next!

     

    Dan Wootton’s not-so ‘finest’ moments:

     

    On Dominic Cummings (who’d probably have preferred even Katie Hopkins as a defender): “Make no mistake, the establishment is out to get Dominic Cummings… I despair.”

     

    On footballer David Beckham and his singer turned fashion designer wife Victoria (whose fans responded with fury): “Weird and creepy.”

     

    On singer George Shelley (whose fans got equally upset): “[He’s] done a Tom Daley and come out as bisexual.”

     

    On singer Susan Boyle (whose management hit back with denial): “Volatile… Forced to shop Tesco and travel by bus.”

     

    On political activist and Novara Media editor Ash Sarkar (before he “shut her down” during a “fiery conversation”): “Grasping.”

     

    On Celebrity Masterchef winner Emma Kennedy (who reported him to Ofcom and threated to sue him with the help of Carter Ruck): “Deranged Boris hater.”

     

    On actor Johnny Depp (who sued him for defamation, outcome awaited post-coronavirus): “Wife beater.”

     

    Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

    Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

    Twitter: @SteepleTimes