UK health minister sacked after wishing for elderly constituent’s death

London: Britain’s health minister has been sacked after exchanging racist and sexist messages, including one saying he hoped a pensioner who did not vote Labour would die before the next election.

Andrew Gwynne, who has been an MP for 20 years, also made antisemitic remarks and joked about a constituent being “mown down” by a truck in a WhatsApp group with colleagues.

Labour MP Andrew Gwynne has been fired as UK health minister.Credit: UK Parliament

The messages were reportedly exchanged in a group called “Trigger Me Timbers”, which Gwynne, the MP for Gorton & Denton in England’s north-west, was a member of, along with more than a dozen Labour councillors, party officials and at least one other MP, all based near Manchester.

In a statement following the revelations, reported by the Mail on Sunday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had dismissed Gwynne as a health minister, and the Labour Party announced he had been suspended as a member.

In one message, Gwynne said he hoped a 72-year-old woman would soon be dead after she contacted local representatives about her bins.

The Stockport resident wrote to her local councillor saying she had not voted Labour, but added: “As you have been re-elected, I thought it would be an appropriate time to contact you with regard to the bin collections.”

After the councillor shared the letter among fellow Labour figures in the WhatsApp group, Gwynne wrote a suggested response: “Dear resident, F--- your bins. I’m re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs.”

“All-outs” are elections at which every council seat is contested at once, in contrast to local authorities in which only a third of seats are up for grabs at each poll.

Among the other messages reported by the newspaper from the WhatsApp group is one from Gwynne saying someone “sounds too Jewish” and “too militaristic”, apparently from their name alone.

The newspaper also reported racist comments about the veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott, mocking her historic achievement in becoming the first black MP at the despatch box for Prime Minister’s Questions, and misogynist comments about Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, performing a sex act.

In 2018, Gwynne made headlines when it was revealed he was in a Facebook group called Labour Supporters, in which antisemitic messages were shared. At the time, he said he had been added to the group without his knowledge or permission.

A government spokesman said Starmer was determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office and lead a government in the service of working people.

“He will not hesitate to take action against any minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has in this case,” a statement said.

On Saturday evening, Gwynne wrote on X: “I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offence I’ve caused.

“I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can.”

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