Mark A Hooley

MA (Hons) History & Politics. Scottish Conservative candidate Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-Election 2025. Green Bay Packers fanatic. MA Journalism currently.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Hiking national insurance
The Family Farm Tax
Giving up on real welfare reform
Not funding our defence
Not drilling our own oil and gas
Appointing Peter Mandelson…then lying about what had happened

Britain is not ungovernable. Keir Starmer is a terrible Prime Minister. But the problem isn’t just Starmer.

Labour MPs only want higher taxes to hand out more benefits, as the Welfare Secretary has pointed out. These are Labour’s choices and their values, regardless of who is running the party.

We need to get Britain working again. We need the @Conservatives.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

People should be free to worship, work and walk our streets without fear. The attack in Edinburgh is disturbing. Violence in our streets is bad enough but reports indicate some of the victims were targeted because they were Muslim. This is abhorrent.

I am glad police acted swiftly. The victims and their families deserve justice, and the public must have confidence that the law applies equally to everyone.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Reform would not have won Makerfield even if every other party on the Right stood down.

Meanwhile, in Aberdeen, the Conservatives took half the votes despite Reform being on the ballot paper.
We united the city behind a genuine offer.

Had I done a deal, our emphatic victory in Aberdeen would have been diminished. People would have sneered that we only won because Reform stepped aside. A win 'helped' by Reform would have been no win at all.

That’s why I am not doing any deals. If you want the Right -Vote Conservative

[Edinburgh Evening News @edinburghpaper]

City tram vision without resources is a hallucination - Iain Whyte https://t.co/tZV4ita28x

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Identity politics divides our country whoever is doing it.

The Conservative Party rejects it.

We believe in universalism and equality under the law. We must not treat people differently on the basis of skin colour. We have to build faith and trust in our institutions.

If there is one thing that should come from Henry’s death, it is that we make things better, so that this does not happen to any of our boys again.

That is what I am committed to.

I do not want his death to be in vain.

Let’s do this for Henry. Let’s get this right.

[Lance Forman @LanceForman]

Love this article by ⁦@KemiBadenoch⁩ in
⁦@thetimes⁩ today.

The only leader to talk about the over reach of the State.

Glad she has set out her philosophy and belief in the free market and in people.

This is the leadership we need.

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

This strong Passover message from @KemiBadenoch is deeply appreciated - and it exposes that the platitudes no longer work. The usual phrases of antiracism have been devalued into meaninglessness or captured by the bigots themselves. If they wish to help, our politicians need a new vocabulary to fight this.

" Why is this year different from all other years?
Because in other years we haven’t seen Jews murdered in a synagogue here in the UK. Because in other years we haven’t seen Hatzola ambulances torched in the middle of Golders Green. And because in no other year have I met so many Jews asking me whether it’s safe for them to stay in the UK. This year I can’t write the usual sort of Passover message. I am tired of reading platitudes and warm words, expressions of solidarity which ring hollow when we can all see what is happening around us."

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Conservatives are on the side of hard working people. On the side of people who contribute to making our country great. On the side of people who want to get on.

The Conservative party are on your side.

So on May 7th, vote Conservative and get Britain working again.

[John Simpson @JohnSimpsonNews]

I think this is absolutely wonderful — Shakespeare and Sir Ian McKellen putting the case for decency and kindness and civilised standards in a world full of anger and brutality.

[Jordan Schultz @Schultz_Report]

The #Jaguars requested and interviewed Austin Gund from the #Bills for their run game coordinator position, per source.

That job ultimately went to Brian Picucci, who has a long history with HC Liam Coen. Gund is expected to be a candidate for other openings, including OL coach openings.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Here’s the truth – the Conservatives have taken time to reflect after defeat. We have been honest about our mistakes. We have listened.

There are now clear dividing lines with the other political parties. We choose conviction over cynicism, and hope over fear.

Ours is still one of the most successful, resilient and influential countries on Earth. A country that has reinvented itself repeatedly. A country whose people quietly get on with things while politicians argue.

Telling them their country is finished does not empower the British people – it drags them down.

I’m surprised at those who say the Conservatives have lost an asset this week. It doesn’t matter how good someone’s TikTok videos are, if they’re trying to burn down your organisation and the people in it, they’re not an asset.

Robert Jenrick didn’t suddenly discover that he disagreed with the Conservative Party. Every criticism he now makes occurred when he was in government.

He spent longer in the Cabinet than some of the colleagues he now criticises, yet lacks the self-awareness to admit his own failures.

His defection was never about principle. It was about ambition. This is the best opportunity I have had since I became the leader of the Conservative Party to show we are a party of conviction, firmly on the Right, and to explain why and how we are different from Reform.

Toxic people destroy organisations. They destabilise teams by breeding mistrust and distracting others from getting on with the job. That is why I know Reform will not succeed. A movement built on grievance and serial disloyalty is doomed to fail, and they will be at each other’s throats soon enough.

And for those who are worried that a divided Right cannot defeat the Left, ask yourselves who is actually fighting the Left?

Every time the Conservative Party has put Labour on the ropes, Reform turn their gun on us instead. They rush to change the subject.

When we successfully exposed Angela Rayner for dodging her taxes, they rushed out the defection of Danny Kruger.

When I was tearing apart Rachel Reeves’s terrible Budget, out they came with another defection.

Every time we expose Labour’s failures, Reform try to drag the conversation back to us. That tells you everything. The Conservatives know our job is to hold Labour to account. Reform is too busy trying to tear down the only credible opposition to Labour.

Here’s the direction in which the Conservatives want to take the country: a stronger economy and a stronger Britain. That means backing work and enterprise, not suffocating business with regulation.

It means protecting parents and children in the online world, not shrugging as tech giants profit from harm.

It means public order, national security and defence taken seriously, not waved away with slogans. That is why we are advancing policies on a social media ban for children, abolishing stamp duty, reforming business rates, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights to get proper control of our borders, and investing in our sovereign defence capability.

You may ask why the Conservative Party didn’t do this before. Well, sorry, but I wasn’t in charge then.

On net zero, on de-regulation, on tax-cutting, protecting children from puberty blockers, giving women back their single-sex spaces and stopping the woke Left from corrupting our children by convincing them they come from a racist country, Conservative members saw that I was consistent and that is why they picked me to be their leader.

Some believe that the defections bring government experience. This is where Farage has made one fundamental mistake. He does not understand that holding a ministerial title is not the same as achieving results. Government experience is about what you delivered when you had the chance, not the car you were driven in.

[The Free Press @TheFP]

As the protest movement that is rocking Iran grows, we can look to history for clues as to how it might end, writes Simon Sebag Montefiore.

Read his full essay: https://t.co/MZ9cESGIi4

[Priti Patel MP @pritipatel]

As the terrorists in Tehran continue their cruel brutality attacking Iranian citizens, we stand with them in their brave fight against Iran's authoritarian regime to strengthen their determination to break free from the shackles of repression & terror. https://t.co/gszCk6END9

[Anderson Cooper 360° @AC360]

The White House Website is officially re-writing the history of the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Anderson is Keeping Them Honest.

[Governor Gavin Newsom @CAgovernor]

Five years ago, our great American democracy was put to the test, and Donald Trump failed it.

The danger he poses was clear then, and it remains clear now. We must never forget that.

[Nancy Pelosi @SpeakerPelosi]

Five years ago today, the United States Capitol was attacked in a violent insurrection incited by the President of the United States for one purpose: to overturn a free and fair election and cling to power in clear violation of the Constitution. January 6th was not an aberration and it was not spontaneous. It was the culmination of a sustained assault on truth, on the rule of law, and one of the most sacred principles of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power.

On that day, Members of Congress, staff, and journalists were hunted and forced to flee for their lives as the halls of Congress were desecrated. Law enforcement officers were beaten, crushed, and scarred—physically and psychologically—while defending the seat of American democracy. Some paid the ultimate price. We honor the extraordinary bravery and sacrifice of the U.S. Capitol Police and the law enforcement officers who stood their ground so that the work of democracy could continue.

We must speak plainly: January 6th was an attempted coup. It was an effort to nullify millions of lawful votes and subvert the will of the American people. But the attack failed because of the courage of public servants who gave proof through the night that our flag was still there by refusing to bend to pressure, threats, or intimidation. On that day, the Constitution held and we kept the Republic.

Yet the danger did not end when the Capitol was secured. The same falsehoods that ignited the violence on that day continue to be spread. The same contempt for democratic norms continues to corrode our Republic. There is an ongoing effort to rewrite history, excuse the inexcusable, and glorify those who attacked our democracy — including with blanket pardons which sanitize an attack on the Constitution itself and endorse lawlessness. The American people must remain vigilant that those who seek to forget, minimize, or excuse January 6th invite its repetition.

On this fifth anniversary, remembrance alone is not enough. We have a responsibility to defend democracy with clarity and resolve: to protect the right to vote, to uphold the rule of law, to reject political violence in all its forms, and to demand accountability for those who would place themselves above the Constitution. The strength of our democracy lies in our willingness to confront the threats against it.

January 6th stands as a stark warning and a solemn charge. We must choose truth over lies, courage over cowardice, and democracy over autocracy. The future of our Republic depends on it.

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

Five years since January 6, 2021.
A mob incited by Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol to try to overturn an election he lost.

Don’t let them rewrite history. This was an attack on the Constitution and the peaceful transfer of power.
Never forget.

[Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney]

NEW: Donald Trump’s escape from accountability for Jan. 6 has been the animating force in his second term — a president willing to test and cross constitutional lines knowing the institutions meant to check or punish him…can’t or won’t.

Five years later, Jan. 6 is every day. https://t.co/msSTa7T0wM

[Charlie Sykes @SykesCharlie]

Five years ago, a mob of insurrectionists — fueled with conspiracies and lies, and incited to violence by a mendacious conman clinging to power — stormed the Capitol. It was a Day of Infamy.

But now — five years later —we know that the infamy was just beginning — a cascading failure of the institutions we thought would be the guardrails of our Constitutional order.
https://t.co/onRfUIJxcD

[Mike Madrid @madrid_mike]

January 6 is not a “difference of opinion.”

It was an attack on the basic rule that keeps democracies alive: losers accept the result.

Pretending otherwise is how republics rot from the inside. 🧵