Labour have 'woke running through it like a stick of Brighton rock', says Tory Party Chairman

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden leaves Downing Street, London.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden leaves Downing Street, London.
Victoria Jones
Max Parry

By Max Parry


Published: 03/10/2021

- 15:42

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:31

'Previous generations of Labour leaders, activists and voters would look in dismay at what Labour has become', says Oliver Dowden

Conservative Party Chairman Oliver Dowden has criticised the “woke aggression” in the Labour Party, and said it led to many voters switching to the Tories.

Speaking at the party conference, Mr Dowden said Labour had “woke running through it like a stick of Brighton rock”.


He added: “Previous generations of Labour leaders, activists and voters would look in dismay at what Labour has become.”

The party chairman spoke about his own grandfather, a Labour voter and trade unionist “through and through” called Harry Dowden, known to friends as “Red Harry”.

He added: “If you want to know why Labour lost the last general election so badly, it’s because so many of the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of people like Harry Dowden in communities up and down the country believe that Labour has turned its back on them.”

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