Dennis Skinner's bitter feud with Ken Livingstone exposed
DENNIS SKINNER was one of the highest profile casualties of Boris Johnson’s huge general election majority after 49 years in Parliament – but despite the inevitability of him going down in history as a Labour Party legend, his career was certainly not without controversy.
Election 2019: Dennis Skinner loses Bolsover seat after 49 years
Mr Skinner was conspicuous by his absence as Conservative Mark Fletcher claimed his Bolsosver seat in the early hours of Friday morning. Having recently undergone hip surgery, the 87-year-old lost a seat he had held since 1970 and his defeat can be seen as a symbol of Mr Johnson’s demolition of the “Red Wall”. He cut a divisive figure during a long career and became infamous, as a proud and outspoken republican, for his outbursts about the Queen during the state opening of Parliament.
However, despite being loved by many within the Labour movement, he was also the source of bitter confrontation – particularly with Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London.
In 2000, Mr Skinner hit out at Mr Livingstone, who was then serving as a Labour MP.
Mr Livingstone failed to win the party’s nomination to be candidate for Mayor of London and a public falling-out with Prime Minister Tony Blair followed.
He then decided to run as an independent candidate instead, calling on his supporters to help Green Party activists get elected.
Mr Skinner was furious with him, though.
The “Beast of Bolsover” accused Mr Livingstone of betraying the Labour Party and particularly campaigners in his Brent East constituency, who he claimed had “fought like tigers” to earn his majority in the 1997 general election.
Referring to Mr Livingstone, he said: “He tells them he’s going to be the Labour candidate, then he lies to them.
“To me that’s as low as you can get.”
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He went further still, as he compared Mr Livingstone to the official Labour candidate for London Mayor – Frank Dobson – who he called “a bloke and a half” while adding that he was “not someone with an ego as big as a house”.
Mr Skinner added that Mr Livingstone would “hit the headlines but you’ll never be able to trust him because he’s broken his pledge and his loyalty to his party”.
He also noted that: “The personality cult of the ego does not work down a coal mine and it does not work in the Labour Party.”
Despite this damning criticism, Mr Livingstone successfully served as Mayor of London between 2000 and 2008.
He sparked controversy yesterday after claiming “the Jewish vote wasn’t very helpful” to Labour in their catastrophic electoral performance.
Mr Livingstone has been the subject of criticism several times in recent years for repeatedly referencing Adolf Hitler in primetime interviews.