Minister sacked after posting he hoped 'pensioner who didn’t vote Labour would die' in WhatsApp group
8 February 2025, 18:30 | Updated: 9 February 2025, 00:05
Health minister Andrew Gwynne has been sacked and suspended from the Labour party over comments posted in a WhatsApp group.
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According to The Mail on Sunday, the MP for Gorton and Denton sent a post saying he hoped a pensioner who did not vote Labour would die before the next election.
Mr Gwynne allegedly shared a letter from a 72-year-old Stockport resident regarding bin collections, who said she did not vote for Labour, but "As you have been re-elected I thought it would be an appropriate time to contact you with regard to the bin collections."
The newspaper reports the minister sent an image of the letter to the WhatsApp group and said: "Dear resident, F*** your bins. I'm re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you'll have croaked it by the all-outs."
Mr Gwynne also is alleged to have made anti-Semitic 'jokes' about a constituent being 'mown down' by a truck.
He joked that someone's name sounded 'Jewish', saying: "He sounds too militaristic and too Jewish. Is he in Mossad?"
The minister made comments about MP Diane Abbott, when she stood in for then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister's Question in October 2019.
He said: "Was David Lammy not available? I'd also take the corpse of Bernie Grant.
"Or Desmond Swayne? Justin Trudeau??"
The Mail on Sunday gained access to the closed WhatsApp group, which was started in 2019.
His offensive comments included 'jokes' about Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner performing a sex act.
Gwynne has become the fourth high-profile figure to leave Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government since the party's election victory in July last year.
His sacking comes after the departures of Tulip Siddiq as Treasury minister in January, Louise Haigh as transport secretary in November and Sue Gray as Downing Street chief of staff in October.
Mr Gwynne said: "I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offence I've caused. I've served the Labour Party all my life and it was a huge honour to be appointed a minister by Keir Starmer.
"I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can."
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A Government spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister is determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office and lead a government in the service of working people. He will not hesitate to take action against any minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has in this case.”
A Labour spokesperson said: "Andrew Gwynne has been administratively suspended as a member of the Labour Party. We are investigating comments made in this WhatsApp group in line with the Labour Party's rules and procedures. Swift action will be taken if individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of them as Labour Party members."
Nigel Huddleston MP, Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party, said: ''There is a clear contempt for pensioners in the Labour Party. This clearly goes beyond Andrew Gwynne and there is a rot in Labour that needs fixing. Andrew Gwynne should not remain a member of the Labour Party - they need to act.''
