Jake Berry Is No Stranger To Being In The Headlines. And Not In A Good Way

Jake Berry addresses the 2022 Tory conference during his short-lived spell as party chairman.Jake Berry is in the news again after his defection from the Tories to Reform UK.The former Conservative chairman declared that “Britain is broken”, and laid much of the blame at the door of the Tory government he served in.“If you literally wanted to design a system to destroy a country, you would struggle to do better,” Berry said. “And I know who broke it, because I was there.”It was an odd way for a politician to persuade voters to listen to what he has to say. If, by his own admission, he got so much wrong in the past, why should he be listened to this time?One former Tory cabinet minister told HuffPost UK that the former MP for Rossendale and Darwen as “a serious person and a good communicator”.But there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Berry is never too far away from yet another embarrassing gaffe.Here are just a few examples of the times he has put his foot in it.Southport killer conspiracy theoryIn January, he took to X to amplify a bizarre conspiracy theory about the trial date of Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three young girls attending a dance class in Southport last summer.Coincidentally, it was the same day that Donald Trump was being inaugurated as US president in Eashington.“This is a calculated and cynical move by the Labour government to ‘bury bad news’ behind international headlines,” Berry declared.It did not take long for it to be made clear to Berry, who is a trained solicitor, that trial dates are set by the courts, not politicians. Despite it being made abundantly clear to the former minister that his observation was nonsense, the tweet is still up on his X account.The Southport attack trial starts today—and of course, it's overshadowed by Trump’s inauguration. This is a calculated and cynical move by the Labour Government to 'bury bad news' behind international headlines! https://t.co/NtD9nCUVWT— Sir Jake Berry (@JakeBerry) January 20, 2025Have We Got Bad News For YouBerry also managed to get himself involved in a spat with Private Eye editor Ian Hislop over the Horizon IT scandal.Appearing on ITV’s Peston programme, he took issue with Hislop’s criticism of the Tories’ failure to help the postmasters and postmistresses affected while they were in office.He told the Have I Got News For You panellist: “Demonstrably, that is complete and utter nonsense.”Things went downhill pretty rapidly from there.Editor of @PrivateEyeNews Ian Hislop and Conservative @JakeBerry don’t seem to agree about the Government’s handling of the Post Office scandal 👀#Pestonpic.twitter.com/GT0nogOspk— Peston (@itvpeston) January 10, 2024Claims Boris was brought down by ‘the blob’A close ally of Boris Johnson, Berry was always going to defend his man to the death.But even by his standards, claiming the former PM was brought down by the Whitehall establishment – or “the blob” – rather than the mass resignation of his own ministers, was quite something.In the same X post, Berry also claimed that Brexit had been “blocked” by “the establishment”.Which came as a surprise to the entire country, given the UK is definitely no longer a member of the EU.You voted for Brexit - the establishment blocked it. You voted for @BorisJohnson - the establishment has forced him out. Who is in charge here… The voters or the blob?#Blobonomics#BorisJohnson— Sir Jake Berry (@JakeBerry) June 10, 2023Tells struggling Brits: Get a better jobDisplaying the sensitivity he has always been noted for, Berry had some rather obvious advice for British people struggling in the cost of living crisis in 2022.He told Sky News: “People know that when their bills arrive they can either cut their consumption, or they can go out there and get higher salary or higher wages, they can go out there and get that new job.”That was pretty easy for Berry to say, however, as HuffPost UK later revealed that he was pocketing a cool £3,500 a month on top of his MP’s salary providing “strategic corporate advice” to law firm Squire Patton Boggs.Related...'A Liz Truss Tribute Act': Why Jake Berry's Defection From The Tories Could Backfire On Reform

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