That’s what he appears to think of you, those who voted for him. Or voted ‘Conservative’, with him as the candidate representing the party of your choice. Mr Kruger is on record as stating that he will not stand down to enable voters to have their say. Even though Danny Kruger has not responded to our suggestion that he should call a by-election following his defection, maybe he should listen to the advice of his ‘new leader’ Nigel Farage. Click here for the BBC clip from 2017. Douglas Carswell defected from Nigel Farage’s UKIP party to sit as an Independent MP. Farage is reported as saying “He [Douglas Carswell] has now given up the label on which he was voted in”. So is this Danny Kruger’s first case of ‘voting against’ his new party and party leader?
And to further quote Nigel Farage, commenting on by-elections following defections, noted in yesterday’s ‘Guardian’, a social media post from 2022 when Christian Wakeford (sitting Tory MP) defected to Labour: “Christian Wakeford defects as an MP from Tory to Labour. If he calls a by-election then that’s fine. If not, he is the Dishonourable Member for Bury South“. Will Nigel Farage now call Danny Kruger the ‘Dishonourable Member for East Wiltshire‘?
There are petitions calling for a by-election to be held. Already the following ‘Change.org’ petition has gone well in to four figures – click here.
How many who voted ‘Conservative’ in this area in July last year actually voted for Danny Kruger? Of course, you all did as the ‘X’ went in the box beside his name. And that of his party – ‘Conservative’.
Many we spoke to in a very non-scientific or statistically sound polling and interviewing programme said that yes, they did vote for Danny Kruger, but primarily they voted Conservative. If he had been representing another party, say Reform UK, or Labour, would they have voted for him then? In nearly every case the answer was ‘No’, although in one instance where the responder said that they voted for him rather than party because ‘his mum was on the telly a lot and liked cakes’.
OK, this is never statistically pure. It’s more anecdotal but the clear response from those who admitted voting Conservative, i.e. for Danny Kruger was that it was the party they were voting for rather than him, the individual candidate. OK, there will be many who did vote primarily for Danny Kruger as he has done a lot in this (and the previous) constituency since 2019. But party first was the general response. Maybe in years gone by when Michael Ancram, or Charles Morrison before him were the Devizes Constituency (Conservative) MPs, then they would likely have commanded a more significant personal vote.
One question that hasn’t yet surfaced relates to the status of Reform UK, and has interesting considerations for Danny Kruger. Has he been employed by ReformUK, as a ‘senior manager’ at Reform UK, or even a Director? Or not an employee at all? ReformUK is not a ‘Political Party’ in the assumed sense: it’s a private company. Now called ‘Reform UK 2025’ Ltd. Until May of this year it was ‘Reform UK Party Ltd, and between November 2018 and May 2021 ‘The Brexit Party Ltd’. So not ‘yer normal common a garden political party’. Something quite different, two (current and active) Directors (Nigel Paul Farage and Richard James Sunley Tice. Leader and Chairman. So who could vote them out? And what’s Danny Kruger’s position and role? An association by name only? Junior employee? And who are the shareholders? Interested? – Visit the Gov.UK website by clicking here.
In 2019 many in the local (then Devizes) Conservative Association weren’t happy because Danny Kruger had been ‘parachuted in’. I.e. – a Central Office’ choice. Jane Davies, Conservative Wiltshire Councillor and former holder of several senior Wiltshire Council portfolio cabinet roles told Marlborough.news:
“I am very disappointed that Danny has chosen to defect. He was elected by voters on a Conservative ticket but for personal reasons has chosen to move to the party that came fourth in that general election in East Wiltshire. I don’t believe his political views nor the issues that affect our country have shifted significantly enough in the 14 months since that general election to justify his decision. He’s moving to a party about which he made the infamous ‘they would spend money like drunken sailors’ remark as recently as July. It’s incomprehensible.
He also did his best to damage and undermine the Conservative brand on his way out despite saying how many good people are staying loyal to the party they were elected by residents to represent. His choice shows his utter disregard for the people who trusted him with their vote in 2024 and a cavalier approach to the responsibility that comes with political office.”
Marlborough Buns are back
