Rory Stewart has centrist hearts fluttering again. So, here’s his voting record

Rory Stewart gives a speech


Support us and go ad-free

It’s happened again. Centrists heard a posh person speaking and immediately decided that person should be prime minister.

And yet again their shout for PM is one Rory Stewart. Yes, the former Tory MP, ex-development secretary and deputy governor of an Iraqi province. That’s right, an arch-Tory and imperialist.

Yes, that Rory Stewart. ‘Tory’ Rory whose voting record shows him to be to working class people what footballer Kurt Zouma is to cats. That is to say, quite vicious.

It came after Stewart, who stepped down as an MP in 2019, criticized Boris Johnson over Partygate on GMB news. He tweeted the crux of argument here:

The centrists are at it again

Immediately and predictably, people with FBPE (Follow Back Pro Europe) in their bios and sundry other centrists decided Tory Rory was a shoe-in for the next PM – forgetting he is not an MP and so he can’t even run:

Other social media users also overlooked the fact their favourite Tory literally can’t run for leader anyway. Which probably says something about the centrist grip on reality:

Others went for the timeworn centrist trope of saying they weren’t a conservative but they were all for Rory. Backing Tories, of course, is absolutely not Tory behaviour:

Others seem to have only recently discovered Tory Rory, despite the fact that centrists seem to fall in love with him every few months or so:

One Twitter genius was absolutely convinced that the country would be vastly better if it was led by Stewart:

A good little Tory

Of course this ignores the fact that for a number of years, Rory Stewart was in office. He was literally an elected MP in government, and spent time leading the now-defunct Department for International Development.

And he voted for some of the absolute worst Tory polices, like the good little Tory he is. Let’s take a look at Rory’s greatest hits during his time as an MP.

Stewart voted strongly against public ownership of rail and buses; for tuition fees and against helping young people in training and further education; for harsher immigration policies and mass surveillance; for anti-trade union restrictions; and in favour of war and nuclear weapons.

Interestingly, given his FBPE fanbase, he voted against EU integration and the right for EU citizens to stay in the UK. He virtually always voted against those on benefits, including those who are disabled or suffering from long-term illness.

Stewart resisted an elected upper house, empowering local councils and proportional representation. He opposed laws to increase human rights and equality. And he opposed laws which would prevent climate change and for selling off publicly owned forests.

It is bizarre that centrists, who pride themselves on being the ‘adults in the room’, still haven’t learned how to use a search engine. We can’t wait to see who they pick as their next favourite ‘nice’ Tory.

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Foreign and Commonwealth Office, cropped to 770 x 403, licenced under CC BY 2.0.

Support us and go ad-free

We need your help to keep speaking the truth

Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.

Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.

We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.

In return, you get:

* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop

Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.

With your help we can continue:

* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do

We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?

The Canary Support us

Related articles