Tory party Deputy Chairman Jonathan Gullis pictured campaigning with convicted heroin dealer

29 May 2024, 16:00 | Updated: 29 May 2024, 18:29

By Natasha Clark

@NatashaC

A Deputy Chairman of the Tory party has been pictured campaigning with a convicted heroin dealer.

Labour accused the Stoke on Trent North MP, Jonathan Gullis, of hypocrisy and betraying victims of drugs crimes after a string of photos emerged of him alongside a notorious drugs kingpin.

Former trainee solicitor, Yasser Hussain, was jailed for eight years in 2006 after being found guilty of masterminding a drug gang in Stoke-on-Trent and beyond.

Cops seized 4kg of heroin with an estimated street value of £400,000 – and several others were jailed alongside him.

Detective Inspector Mark Abbotts, who led the investigation, said at the time: "Hussain was the head of a gang involved in the large-scale supply of heroin in Stoke-on-Trent and further afield. It's only fitting that he received this substantial sentence.”

Richard Holden, the Tory Party chair, told LBC's Andrew Marr this evening: “I’ve not had a chance to speak to Jonathan about it yet. I know what he’s said that he was just doing some visits in his local community.

“I have no idea about the nature of the relationship beyond that. Sometimes politicians…wherever I go on a campaign event, there’s somebody who I don’t know who wants to have a selfie with me.”

He continued: “I don’t know the exact nature of it.”

A photo of Mr Gullis sitting on a sofa beside Hussain was taken in December 2022.

Further photos show former teacher Mr Gullis, 34, who was made one of the deputy chairmen of the Tory Party after Lee Anderson defected to Reform earlier this year, celebrating a local council win with Mr Hussein in 2021, and attending events with other locals in the area.

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He was also snapped celebrating Mr Gullis' win in 2019 when he was first elected as a Red Wall MP in Stoke.

Mr Gullis previously described drug dealers and those committing anti-social behaviour in his area as "savages", "scroats" and "scumbags" in a video filmed in his constituency.

A Labour source told LBC: “The gross hypocrisy of Sunak’s Party has once again been exposed, this time betraying the victims of these dangerous drug gangs.

“Whilst Labour has pledged to toughen up and extend closure powers for drug dens, Rishi Sunak’s own Deputy Chairman is welcoming a heroin dealer into his inner circle.”

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Tory insiders said he’d been invited to various events by local Tories but stressed that he wasn’t a member of the party.

A spokesman for Mr Gullis told LBC: “Jonathan has attended many events with the local Muslim community in Stoke-on-Trent. It was while engaging with the local Muslim population that Jonathan met Mr Hussain.”

LBC has reached out to Mr Hussain for comment.