Keir Starmer names replacement for Labour MP sacked after sending offensive messages in vile WhatsApp chat
10 February 2025, 12:25
Labour has announced its replacement for the minister who was sacked after being exposed for sending offensive messages in a WhatsApp group.
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Ashley Dalton, Labour MP for West Lancashire, has been appointed as a minister in the Department of Health and Social Care after Andrew Gwynne was sacked for his involvement in the vile WhatsApp group named “Trigger Me Timbers."
Mr Gwynne left the Government over the weekend and apologised for comments made in the group "which I deeply regret and would not make today".
Ms Dalton has been appointed in the health brief, while Douglas Alexander will now serve jointly in the Cabinet Office as well as the Department for Business and Trade, Downing Street confirmed on Monday.
Mr Gwynne reportedly said that he hoped a 72-year-old woman would soon die after she asked a councillor about bin collections, and joked about a constituent being "mown down" by a truck.
WhatsApp group investigated after Labour minister sacked over messages
He posted on X on Saturday apologising for any offence caused, but did not suggest he would stand down as an MP.
"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," he wrote.
The Prime Minister dismissed Mr Gwynne as a minister as soon as he became aware of the comments, it is understood.
Burnley MP Oliver Ryan is also under investigation over "unacceptable and deeply disappointing" comments in the same WhatsApp group.
It is understood that the Chief Whip is due to speak with Mr Ryan and "no action is off the table".
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."
Is there a difference between Andrew Gwynne and Boris Johnson's inflammatory language?
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, according to the MailOnline.
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.
