Norfolk Conservatives in row after controversial WhatsApp message leaked
It comes after a message was posted in a WhatsApp group of local activists and councillors
Last updated 23rd Jun 2023
Norfolk Conservatives are embroiled in a furious row after a councillor appeared to refer to people on benefits as “the great unwashed” in a party WhatsApp group.
Jonathan Emsell, a member of Broadland District Council (BDC), made the remarks in a discussion with fellow local Tories about what Labour would do if the party wins the next election.
His message, which was leaked, said: “Benefits will go up so the great unwashed will moan less.”
It has triggered a political row, with Labour rivals describing the comments as “incredibly offensive” and showing a “contempt” for the public.
His own party leader at Broadland, Fran Whymark, has also criticised his use of the phrase.
“Jon needs to realise that anything you say could be put into the public domain and how that could be used,” Mr Whymark said.
However, Mr Emsell himself, who has been councillor for Thorpe St Andrew since 2011, remained defiant.
He claimed the phrase was directed not at those on benefits themselves but at what he described as “the socialist mob”, of Labour politicians and members who he said had been abusive about Conservatives in the past and made worse comments in public.
He singled out Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, who referred to Tories as “scum”, and Natasha Harpley, leader of the Labour group at BDC, who has been pictured wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “You’re never more than 10 feet from a Tory”, with the picture of a rat.
Mr Emsell, who was in the Broadland cabinet until his party lost power at last month’s local elections, said: “I said it to other Conservatives, not to you, I don’t see how it is your business.
“I said it in the context of it being about the socialist mob, not all people on benefits.
“That chat was in a Conservative group with people who know me.”
“It’s not about all the people on benefits, it’s about the people happy to call us Tory scum who revel in the fact that we will not be elected at the next general election.
“You just want to make me out to show me attacking people on benefits but I didn’t.”
He said he had been part of the WhatsApp group, called ‘Norwich Conservatives’, and that people in it would understand the context of his comment and that he would not use the phrase in public.
Mr Emsell added: “If I had my way everyone on benefits would have to produce receipts. If they want to have any money they should have to say what they are using it for and the benefits people can make sure they are spending it on food, not cigarettes, gambling or tattoos.”
Government statistics show that more than two-fifths of the people claiming Universal Credit (UC) – just one type of benefit – in Broadland are in work.
Mr Whymark, leader of the Conservative group at BDC, said: “That is not the term that I would use, not at all.
“I think I know what he is trying to say there. Jon is trying to refer to people who may not be wanting to work or contribute to society but want to take from society.
“We need to be realistic that there are a small number of people that don’t want to work when work is available, which is a shame.”
Mr Emsell’s WhatsApp messages went on to accuse Labour of being “hopeless” and a “joke” suggesting that people in Broadland should know better than to vote for them.
The message was leaked by a Conservative activist who has become disillusioned with the local and national party.
“I have conservative values but these sorts of remarks have no place in the party,” he said.
“The WhatsApp group used to be for organising doorknocks and leaflet drops. By sharing this message, I hope it encourages members to take it back to that purpose.”
He said that no one else in the chat, which has around 70 members, criticised the phrase. One member gave the remark a ‘thumbs up’ sign.
Chloe Smith, Mr Emsell’s MP, refused to comment but said she was not in the group.
Ms Harpley, who was singled out for criticism by Mr Emsell, said: “It is this contempt for ordinary people that has led to many of them turning away from the Conservatives and instead voting for Labour – often for the very first time.
“The majority of people in receipt of all types of benefits are actually working, yet due to a culture created by his party of government, are forced to rely on various benefits to top up their poverty wages and help towards their extortionate living expenses.”
Ms Harpley – who claimed she had not worn her ‘rat’ T-shirt for a couple of years – said she was proud people had decided to vote Labour and suggested Mr Emsell was patronising voters by claiming they do not know better.
HIS FULL MESSAGE
“Unfortunately our MPs have let us down, everyone knows that Labour will not do any better but feeling is they cannot do worse than our lot.
“With the media on their side it will look better, we will hear less about cost of living crisis. All the unions will calm down and have all their discussions in private.
“Benefits will go up so the great unwashed will moan less.
“Our lot thought running a country would be easy, which it is if you have the balls to make the hard decisions and get things sorted”.
‘THE GREAT UNWASHED’
The phrase has been in use for around 200 years to refer to people with little money, power or social status, and is usually deployed in a derogatory way.
Some have credited Edmund Burke, the 18th-century thinker seen by many as the father of modern conservatism, with coining it.
Sir Walter Scott, the writer, is also said to have popularised it.
However, its first published use appears to have been by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his 1830 novel Paul Clifford.
He wrote: “He is certainly a man who bathes and ‘lives cleanly’, (two especial charges preferred against him by Messrs. the Great Unwashed).”