Tory MP Nick Boles criticised for ‘creepy’ tweet about Jess Phillips
‘I would walk over hot coals for her,’ he posted.
Conservative MP Nick Boles divided opinion on social media on Saturday when he tweeted: “There is something about @jessphillips that I find irresistible.”
Mr Boles’ comments were posted alongside a Times profile on the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, in which Mrs Phillips was quoted as saying “I think I’d be a good prime minister.”
The rest of his tweet read: “I would walk over hot coals for her. And yes she would be a great Prime Minister.”
The post garnered hundreds of replies, many of which described Mr Boles’ sentiments as “creepy” – although the Labour MP could be seen to have “liked” the post from her own Twitter account.
Others suggested the pair might have a future in the newly formed Independent Group (TIG).
Warren Morgan, a councillor for East Brighton who quit the Labour Party earlier in 2019, tweeted: “Perhaps both of you should join @TheIndGroup and make that happen.”
The newspaper’s profile touched on the possibility of Mrs Phillips leaving the Labour Party, with the MP quoted as saying: “I feel like I can’t leave the Labour Party without rolling the dice one more time. I owe it that. But it doesn’t own me.”
The forming of TIG signalled the biggest shake-up of Westminster politics in a generation – with a handful of Labour and Conservative MPs leaving to form the new party, the prospect of further departures has become a talking point.
One social media user replied: “This is so good to hear from a Tory MP. Beginning of the end of tribal politics, at last”, while another wrote: “That tweet cheers me up immensely. All strength to you both.”
