Oops! Like Hannah Spencer, I ran for a seat in a constituency I badmouthed…

As the Green candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election is left red-faced by remarks she made about it, Iain Dale – who pulled out of running for Tunbridge Wells after his own disobliging comments came to light – says Hannah Spencer should not follow his example... and just brush it off

Been there. Done That. Got the T-shirt. That was my immediate thought when I read about the poor Green Party candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election having made comments slagging off the constituency she seeks to represent.

Well, slagging off maybe a little OTT when you actually read what she wrote on Mumsnet back in 2021 – describing Levenshulme, one of the towns in the constituency she hopes to represent, as being full of “money-laundering takeaways”.

But context rarely matters in these instances. All’s fair in love and political warfare.

Hannah Spencer, the candidate in question, has become known as Britain’s most famous plumber. She stands a good chance of winning this by-election, but saying in a post on Mumsnet five years ago that she was glad she moved out of the constituency is something her opponents will be determined to exploit to the max. How she handles this may determine her fate.

Back in May 2024, something similar happened to me. My local MP, Greg Clark in Tunbridge Wells, announced he was going to stand down, only a matter of days after Rishi Sunak announced a general election. It had never occurred to me to seek to stand in the election. I was still enjoying the best job I have ever had, presenting a nightly show on LBC Radio. I had a nice life. Why would I give that up for the brouhaha of the House of Commons?

To cut a long story short, I could see the terrible defeat that was to lie ahead for the Conservative Party and thought I could play a role in rebuilding it. But it was not to be. I quit my LBC job and announced I was seeking the Tunbridge Wells candidacy. Within 24 hours, my plan lay in tatters.

I knew that I had said some very critical and disobliging things about the Conservative government over the previous few years, but I was happy to explain those if I needed to.

What I hadn’t recalled were comments I had made about the constituency town on the For the Many podcast in 2021. Someone in Germany had, though. And they very kindly passed them on to the local Liberal Democrats.

I had effectively said that I only lived in Tunbridge Wells because my partner had always lived there and, frankly, I’d happily live anywhere else. Oh dear.

Green Party hopeful Hannah Spencer described Levenshulme, one of the main towns in the Gorton and Denton constituency she hopes to represent, as having a high street full of “money-laundering takeaways” (Getty)

The Lib Dems sent the audio to the local Tory agent, who rang me to tell me the news. I suppose it showed they were scared of facing me in the election, but if I had been them I’d have kept my powder dry until the campaign was underway. I knew they would plaster the quote over every campaign leaflet, and very quickly decided I was not going to suffer a political death by a thousand cuts.

Within hours, I withdrew from the selection contest. I think I could probably have still prevailed in that, but the campaign itself would have been a nightmare.

My advice to Hannah Spencer – and it is well meant – is to brush it off. Many people said to me afterwards that everyone at some time or other has slagged off the place they live in. Her words on Mumsnet were not insulting, and she explained why she had moved elsewhere.

If she now deploys some humour, and forcefully and persuasively explains that the reason she is standing is to improve the quality of life in Gorton and Denton, she can get through this. It’s perhaps what I should have done, rather than bow out at the first sign of gunfire – although in retrospect, it is clear I dodged a bullet: the Lib Dems won Tunbridge Wells with a majority of more than 8,000.

Hannah Spencer should look at this as an opportunity, not a threat, to her campaign.

Iain Dale presents the evening show on LBC and the Where Politics Meets History podcast with Tessa Dunlop