Watch the moment GB News host Ellie Costello brutally shuts down Andrew Griffith after being accused of “propagandising” the upcoming local elections.
Questioned on the latest polling, which suggests the Tories will “lose a number of councils” to Reform UK, the Shadow Trade Secretary was quick to criticise the remark.
Mr Griffith told Ellie: “Well look, I’m a huge fan of GB News, but it’s not your role to propagandise for any one particular party.”
The GB News immediately interjected, stating: “I’m not propagandising, this is the polls suggesting that Reform are going to do very well in the local elections in Essex.
“For example, Tory held councils, two of them, including Thurrock and Basildon, will likely go to Reform. That’s not propaganda, that’s what the polls are suggesting.”
Stressing the importance of local elections and not “predicting what’s going to happen”, Mr Griffith responded: “Listen, not a single candidate has been nominated, and not a single vote has been cast.
“These are important elections, they’re not a protest vote, these are the people running your care homes, running your local schools, trying to fix the local roads.”
He told GB News: “I’ve always trusted in the common sense of the British people, and there’s clearly an opportunity to show the Government exactly what you think of them.
Ellie Costello clashed with Shadow Trade Secretary Andrew Griffith after accusing the GB News host of ‘propaganda’
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GB NEWS
“But at the end of the day, this is about people’s local councils, and nobody should be predicting exactly what’s going to happen.”
Asked by Ellie whether he is “pleased” with the decision to go ahead with the elections, Mr Griffith said: “Look, it’s the right thing to go ahead. It was always wrong to deny democracy for this Government’s convenience.
“It’s equally wrong that they’ve imposed this top down restructure on local Governments, councils up and down the country, no one’s asked for this change.”
He added: “But Labour came into power, and rather than focus on jobs, rather than focus on defence, rather than focus on fixing our healthcare system, have decided to inflict this ridiculous local Government reorganisation on the country. It’s properly mad.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has told GB News he is ‘ready’ for the upcoming local elections in May
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GB NEWS
“And on a day that we’ve got the highest unemployment for five years, young people finding it incredibly hard to get a job, they shouldn’t just shelve their cancellation, they should shelve the whole of their local Government reorganisation and get on with the real job.”
Reform is on course to take 28 per cent of the vote in areas where contests have been scrapped, with the Conservatives behind on 21 per cent and Labour in third place on 17 per cent.
According to polling from JL Partners, Labour would lose outright control of six councils including Exeter, Preston and Thurrock, while four more would see their majorities completely wiped out.
Overall, Sir Keir Starmer would be expected to lose just under half (93) of the 188 seats Labour would be defending in the cancelled elections, based on JL Partners’ subset of 25 councils for which polling was available.
Mr Griffith told GB News he is a ‘big fan’ of the People’s Channel before making the accusation
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GB NEWS
Declaring his party will be “ready” for the May 7 elections despite doubt from critics, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told GB News on Monday: “All the parties will be in a slight state of panic this afternoon, saying, ‘Cripes, we’ve got a lot to do in terms of finding candidates and getting organised’.
“We’ve got the biggest membership of any party in the country, we professionalised significantly over the course of the last year, and we will be ready for May 7 in all 30 of these areas.”
He boasted: “For us, it’s another nearly 900 candidates that we have to find across those council areas and county areas, which for us, is just not going to be a problem.
“I don’t see a snap election coming, but I do see a Government that is losing authority and credibility right across the board.”