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Conservative Party deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis took a five-figure donation from JCB – and then stayed silent when the digger giant said two weeks later it was shutting one of its bases in his constituency with the loss of up to 200 jobs.
The MP for Stoke-on-Trent North’s failure to comment on the plan by JCB – owned by Sir Anthony Bamford, a major Conservative donor – is in direct contrast to his reaction to Johnson Tiles closing its factory in the area, which will see 105 jobs cut.
Gullis described the Johnson Tiles news as “sad” and, on the same day as the JCB announcement, attended an “urgent” meeting he had arranged with Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, over the state of the ceramics industry.
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One of Gullis’s constituents, who declined to be named, told Byline Times: “It’s gobsmacking – weeks before the election, JCB suggests up to 200 jobs could go, yet our MP is silent, having taken money from the company.
“Yet he was very prominent in his opposition to the Johnson Tiles closure which, as sad as that also is for the area, sees fewer jobs at risk.”
The constituent went on to suggest that it “feels like JCB bought his silence. What happened to standing up for us and being our ‘voice’?
“Who matters to the Tories, is it hard-working people or is it the mega-rich? This stinks and Jonathan needs to return the donation immediately and apologise to the 200 local people he’s abandoned.”
Gullis failed to return a request for comment.
Byline Times on Thursday reported how Gullis was accused by Labour of “lying” about his relationship with convicted drugs boss Yasser Hussain, who was once jailed for being the ringleader of a heroin gang and is now a long-standing and prominent Conservative activist in Stoke.
Tory Deputy Chairman Jonathan Gullis Accused of ‘Lying’ Over Party’s Association With Convicted Drug Boss
Labour said Byline Times’ findings suggested claims Hussain was not linked to the Tory Party were a “lie”
The former teacher, 34, is anticipated to lose his seat – which he unexpectedly won in 2019 as part of the Conservative ‘Red Wall’ – in the General Election.
According to the parliamentary register of interests, on 19 April, Gullis received £10,000 from Uttoxeter-based multinational construction manufacturing firm JC Bamford (JCB) Excavators Ltd.
A fortnight later, on 3 May, it emerged that up to 200 workers were facing uncertainty amid JCB’s plans to close its World Logistics site in Tunstall, one of two major settlements that make up Stoke-on-Trent North.
One worker told StokeonTrentLive: “The closure will affect around 150 to 200 shop-floor workers [who] have been told their jobs will effectively be gone by