Tory minister caught exaggerating number of Labour MPs leaving parliament

A Conservative minister was caught on live television trying to exaggerate the number of Labour MPs leaving parliament.

Gareth Davies, the Treasury Secretary, told Sky News that “nearly 50” opposition members had announced they were withdrawing from the election.

But in a major embarrassment for the Treasury Secretary – who is supposed to be good with figures – presenter Anna Jones had to tell him the real figure was only a third of what he had said.

The number of Labour MPs who have so far said they will not stand again is 17.

The clash came after Theresa May became the 60th Conservative MP to announce her resignation.

Jones told the minister: “I think that’s about 60 Conservative MPs, about a sixth of the party, who are choosing to stand down at the next election. It seems that there are a lot of Conservative MPs who have already made up their minds about the party’s prospects at the next election.”

Davies replied: “I think there are about 50 Labour MPs as well, just to be completely balanced on that.

“That’s what happens when you’re approaching another election and it’s perfectly reasonable for people to decide it’s time to leave, particularly when they’ve been in the House of Commons for a long time and each person has made their own decision for their own personal reasons.”

But later in the interview, Jones said, “I’m just going to go back to something you said earlier.

“The number of Labour MPs standing down at the next election will be 17 rather than 50.”

Davies said she should “maybe take a look” at the figure, even though it was entirely accurate.

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