UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

[OBD]

RIP. Absolutely terrible.

[YL]

Horrible, and horribly reminiscent of previous incidents.

As well as those already mentioned, there was the attack on Nigel Jones in Cheltenham when an aide was killed.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Amess o/c was one of the longest-serving MPs in the Commons at the time of his death - I'm not sure exactly why, but that somehow makes this feel even stranger.

[CumbrianLefty]

I’ve also been reminded that Stephen Timms was assaulted in 2010 in a similar surgery event.
That’s 3 times in 11 years. This is unacceptable.

Also the attempted killing of Nigel Jones, then LibDem MP for Cheltenham, back in 2000.

(as many may recall, his aide died endeavouring to protect him)

[beesley]

On more of a superficial or partisan point, it is a tragedy for the (Parliamentary) Conservative Party to have lost three of their most well-liked and longer-serving MPs over the year, namely Amess, Brokenshire and Cheryl Gillan, who died earlier this year.

[CumbrianLefty]

Which, without wanting to be too ghoulish, brings a rather definitive end to the fairly lengthy period when deaths in office almost exclusively happened with Labour MPs.

[Forsyth]

I worked for Amess in 1991-1992 when he represented Basildon.  He grew up in the East End and stood as a Conservative in Newham NW in 1979.  I asked him if he actually campaigned in such a safe Labour seat and he said of course.  He loved meeting new people; he said that if he wasn't in politics he would want to be a chat show host.  In 1983 he did not expect to win Basildon; I asked him once, 'even when the Conservatives were over 20 points ahead nationally, you still didn't think you could win?'  He said that since there were no Conservative local counsellors, and it had an estimated 8,000 Labour majority, he didn't think it was possible.  He and Basildon fit very well with the working class appeal of Thatcherism.  I think he was only slightly less surprised when his majority doubled in 1987. 

I was there during the 1992 campaign, canvassing most days, which he really liked to do and I hated; we traveled in a little camper he had.  The trend on the ground certainly didn't fit with the national polls, but I trusted the polls more than what people were saying to us.  There was a lot of attention on Basildon even before the result, with national newspaper reporters visiting and doing constituency profiles.  After a while he got tired of these because they weren't going to make any difference in Basildon and therefore weren't useful; Basildon wasn't a hotspot of readership of The Times or Guardian.  Mrs. Thatcher visited to campaign, since he was a staunch supporter of her's. Many other Conservative bigwigs visited as well, including Douglas Hurd, Cecil Parkinson, Norman Tebbit.  The result is well-known and was a surprise; I thought it was be 1,000 votes either way, but expected Labour would win.  Instead, Amess won by 1,480. 

I'm sure he would have wanted to stay an MP as long as he lived, which he did. 

[Silent Hunter]

Utterly horrific. Rest in Peace.

[Serenity Now]

The news of the death of David Amess is truly horrible. Rest in Peace.

[Serenity Now]

One of the more attractive small 'd' democratic features of the British political system is the accessibility of its political figures, even very senior ones. An MP's surgery is basically open-house and it's common to see politicians use public transport like ordinary people: I once sat behind a sleeping man on a train who I realised after a few seconds was Carwyn Jones, the First Minister of Wales at the time - he had an aide with him, but no security. The frequency of serious attacks on politicians - and of deaths - probably puts this at risk, at least in its present form. Sweden, of course, has had similar issues.

Yes, it easy to take this for granted. I've met all the various local MPs over the years which has been a very positive thing indeed.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yes, Sir David Amess is not someone with remotely similar views to mine but he wasn't a carpetbagger, a careerist, or media talking head but instead was an exemplary local MP.

He did, of course, do a little sidestep over from Basildon to Southend West in 1997, using major boundary changes to the former (which were actually theoretically quite favourable) to exploit a convenient retirement in the latter, but under the circumstances just about any MP would have done the same. He then went on to be as enthusiastic a constituency representative in the latter he had been in the former, despite being so no longer being an electoral imperative. It has been reported that only yesterday he was telling local radio that he was planning yet another push for city status for Southend.

[GenerationTerrorist]

Horrible, horrible news 
What the  has happened to our politics in the last decade or so? What happened to honest (yet heartfelt) differences of opinion being allowed? What happened to respect?

It just seems to me that Social Media has driven some people (on both sides) a bit crazy. This spate of attacks on politicians is evidence enough of that fact.

Sir David seemed like a lovely, hard working MP with a strong moral/social conscience. I despair at the state of politics in this country right now.

[Geoffrey Howe]

I echo the comments of those above. It is touching that this tragedy should make people remember what the best of politics and public service can be.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I don't think this is official yet, but it is being widely reported that Amess's murder is being investigated as possible Islamist terrorism.

[LAB-LIB]

This is absolutely horrific and my thoughts are with his family, his friends, and his constituents. I have to say that it's kind of weird that I was probably one of the only people outside the UK who knew who David Amess was and now his murder is being covered on the international news. This reminds me of the murder of Jo Cox back in 2016, but also the shooting of Gabby Giffords in the U.S. in 2011. I'm worried that there will be a push, to make politicians less accessible to the people for safety reasons, but I'm even more worried that I probably would have to agree.

[Alcibiades]

This is utterly dreadful and, above all, just so, so shocking. I think the fact that the killing took place in a Methodist church on a quiet, leafy residential street and that, as Al said, the life and career of an incredibly long-tenured MP has ended in such a horrific manner just adds to the air of incredulity surrounding it.

[Pericles]

This is so tragic, and I can relate to what has been said about accessibility of MPs. It's sickening, and it may reflect a decline in politics that keeps good people out of public service. Most of all, it is tragic for his loved ones, and they should get love and support at this time.

[morgieb]

Jesus christ. No-one should be out in the community and end up dead. My thoughts are with his family.

Who would want to go into politics now?

[Meclazine for Israel]

Well that's not good.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-16/british-mp-sir-david-amess-killed-stabbing-conservative-party/100544430

The Motherland has turned into quite the violent 'free-for-all'.

R.I.P.

[Utah Neolib]

R.I.P

This is tragic
However, if for safety reasons MPs are not in public often, how will they connect with the common man?

[LAB-LIB]

Amess o/c was one of the longest-serving MPs in the Commons at the time of his death - I'm not sure exactly why, but that somehow makes this feel even stranger.

It really does. I just realized that he was an MP for more than half of his life.


The police have just declared the stabbing a terrorist incident with a "potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism". The suspect is a 25-year-old British national of Somali heritage.

[brucejoel99]

Condolences to his family & friends. The thought that 2 MPs have now been murdered in an identical fashion over the last 5 years makes me weep for the future. In any event, I hope MPs consider granting city status to Southend in his honor. His bringing it up at every PMQ's which he was called may have been a long-running joke, but he truly worked tirelessly for it.

[MABA 2020]

What happened yesterday is truly awful and the worst part is of course that this political violence seems to be becoming a trend in this country with the murder of Jo Cox five years ago.

R.I.P. and lets hope that this doesn't continue

[CumbrianLefty]

It is a trend and a highly worrying one.

One thing has to be said though - it has next to nothing to do with rudeness or "disrespect" on social media and pushing ending anonymity there as a "solution" verges on actual dishonesty.

[Zinneke]

It is a trend and a highly worrying one.

One thing has to be said though - it has next to nothing to do with rudeness or "disrespect" on social media and pushing ending anonymity there as a "solution" verges on actual dishonesty.

Social media has played a massive part in radicalisation. I agree that anonymity shouldn't be waived but Facebook and Twitter should ban people more readily and crack down on the bots.