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| Rebecca Pow - snipe admirer |
FIVE bird-championing Conservatives have lost their seats in Labour's 2024 General Election rout.
They are:
* Jake Berry (Rossendale & Darwen): Curlew
* Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane): Snipe
* Derek Thomas (St Ives): Manx shearwater
* Kelly Tolhurst (Rochester & Strood): Nightingale
* Matt Warman (Boston & Skegness): joint Redshank champion with Andrew Griffith (Arundel & South Downs)
All had been longstanding parliamentary species champions, designated by the RSPB.
A sixth defeated Tory, Therese Coffey (Suffolk Coastal), who championed the bittern, may already have broken ties with the RSPB after the charity described her as a 'liar' in an insulting post on social media.
A seventh, Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West), who championed a reptile, the smooth snake, did not stand for re-election.
However, the following wildlife enthusiasts (of the three main parties), are safely back at Westminster having been re-elected by their constituents:
* Debbie Abrahams (Lab, Oldham East and Saddleworth): Dunlin
* Harriett Baldwin (Con, West Worcester): Violet click beetle
* Hilary Benn (Lab, Leeds Central): Water Vole
* Saqib Bhatti (Con, Meriden): Willow tit
* Olivia Blake (Lab Sheffield, Hallam): Hen harrier
* James Cartlidge (Con, South Suffolk): Turtle dove
* Sarah Dyke (Lib-Dem Somerton and Frome): great crested newt
* Sir Roger Gale (Con, North Thanet): Beaver
* Mark Garnier (Con, Wyre Forest): Lesser spotted woodpecker
* John Glen (Con, Salisbury): Pheasant's eye flower
* Andrew Griffith (Con, Arundel and South Downs): Redshank
* Emma Hardy (Lab, Kingston upon Hull, West and Hessle): Brimstone butterfly
* Helen Hayes (Dulwich & West Norwood): Pipistrelle bat
* Kevin Hollinrake (Con, Thirsk and Malton): Puffin
* Danny Kruger (Con, Devizes): Great Bustard
* Rachael Maskell (Lab, York Central): Tansy beetle
* Kerry McCarthy (Lab, Bristol East): Swift
* Alison McGovern (Lab, Birkenhead): Small copper butterfly
* Ed Miliband (Lab, Doncaster North): Starling
* Layla Moran (Lib-Dem, Oxford West and Abingdon): Skylark
* Caroline Nokes (Con, Romsey and Southampton North): Duke of Burgundy butterfly
* Jess Phillips (Birmingham Yardley): Dunnock
* Luke Pollard (Lab, Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport): Pink sea fan
*Alex Sobel (Lab, Leeds North West): White-clawed crayfish
*Anna Turley (Redcar): little tern
* Gavin Williamson (Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge): barn owl
* Daniel Zeichner (Lab, Cambridge): Ruderal bumblebee
It is not known if wildlife groups such as the RSPB will seek to find alternative MPs to champion bird species.
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| Kelly Tolhurst - she always spoke up for nightingales |
The Wryneck says: It is regrettable that - at least for the time being - curlew, manx shearwater, nightingale and snipe no longer have species champions at Westminster. We are particularly saddened that Kelly Tolhurst has lost her seat in Kent. She was forthright in opposing housebuilding applications which threatened breeding habitat of nightingales. Here's hoping her successor will be no less vociferous in support of these precious but increasingly uncommon songbirds.
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