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Mike Gapes: Change UK is like an acorn

If it wasn’t already, Change UK is now surely on its last legs. Six of the party’s MPs – including leader Heidi Allen – have quit. But those left behind still remain defiant. In a Sky News interview, Mike Gapes – who defected from Labour earlier this year – said the party was alive and kicking. He then compared Change UK to an ‘acorn’ that could grow into a ‘big tree’:

Kay Burley:

Mike, you’ve lost your party, you’re going to lose your seat at the next election. You knew you would, which is why you didn’t go for a by-election…Now, half of the party that you set up has left you. It’s all over.

Mike Gapes:

Politics is a long haul. The fact is, polls come up and go down. British politics needs a change, and those of (us)…are determined to plant the seed that grows from an acorn into a big tree.

Mr S. always thought that the acorn was the seed. But putting that aside, it all seems like a very long time since those happy Change UK meals in Nando’s…

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Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

This article originally appeared in the UK edition

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