Melanie Gooder

Mummy, Wife, Granny. Works at Thirsk and Malton Conservatives and The Pheasant Hotel, Harome. Fan of reality TV and NH racing.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

This is very good ⬇️

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Every life matters.

One law. One standard. For everyone. 

This is about justice, for Henry, for his family and for all our children. They deserve better.

[James Cleverly🇬🇧 @JamesCleverly]

This is what leadership looks like.

Kemi addressing the problems that led to the mishandling of the incident.

Anger at murder of Henry Nowak is completely understandable, but won’t address the underlying problems. A fundamental change is needed in our thinking on race issues.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

I don’t want to hear about Black Lives Matter.
I don’t want to hear about White Lives Matter.
Everyone matters.
Henry Nowak matters.

[Kevin Hollinrake MP @kevinhollinrake]

Well, Zia, I definitely consider myself unemployable, but you tend to be when you’ve built businesses from scratch and sold them - including one with 220 offices around the country employing 1000 people.

Here are some of the many others with interesting, relevant real-world backgrounds:

Business

Andrew Griffith (Arundel and South Downs): Was chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Sky, the youngest finance director in the FTSE 100 at the time, selling shares worth around £17 million when Comcast bought the company.

Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex): Worked at McDonald’s at 16 after arriving from Nigeria with £100, then trained as a software engineer before moving into banking at Coutts, The Spectator and on to lead the party.

James Cartlidge (South Suffolk): Founded the shared ownership property portal Share to Buy and is now Shadow Defence Secretary.

Mel Stride (Central Devon): Founded Venture Marketing Group in 1987, a trade exhibitions, conferences and publishing company - is now Shadow Chancellor.

Chris Philp (Croydon South): Started at McKinsey before becoming a serial entrepreneur, founding wholesale distributor Blueheath and co-founding the property finance firm Pluto Capital.

Jeremy Hunt (Godalming and Ash): Co-founded the educational publisher Hotcourses after teaching English in Japan, selling it for a reported £14 million in 2017.

Military

Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling): Served as an intelligence officer across Iraq and Afghanistan, earned an MBE and helped set up the National Security Council of Afghanistan.

Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne): A Scots Guards Colonel awarded the Military Cross after being shot and wounded saving lives during a coup in Sierra Leone, who later became a pensions business COO.

Medicine

Neil Shastri-Hurst (Solihull West and Shirley): Was a surgeon and a Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps before retraining as a healthcare barrister, spanning medicine, military and law.

Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham): A consultant paediatrician who has continued doing NHS shifts alongside her work as Shadow Health Minister.

Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth): A former GP.

Kieran Mullan (Bexhill and Battle): A medical doctor who grew up in social housing and is now Shadow Justice Minister.

Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge): Trained as a psychiatrist before politics and now serves as Shadow Science, Innovation and Technology Minister.

The list goes on.

[Paul Nicholls OBE @PFNicholls]

Massive congratulations to Dan Skelton&his entire team on winning their first championship.During his 9 years in Ditcheat he was always learning&shared in success with some remarkable horses which I’m sure spurred him on. We are incredibly proud to see him reach this milestone 🍾

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

The Conservative Party is BACK!

It’s time to get Britain working again.

[Melanie Gooder @MelanieGooder]

@suemonkman29 @SandyofSuffolk Absolutely! A great place to live. All the market towns around here are worth looking at: Helmsley, Pickering, Kirkbymoorside 😍

[Kevin Hollinrake MP @kevinhollinrake]

The govt U-turn on business rates:

🤦‍♂️ Is only temporary
🤦‍♂️ Won’t include restaurants
🤦‍♂️ Won’t include cafes
🤦‍♂️ Won’t include hotels/B&Bs
🤦‍♂️ Won’t include shops
🤦‍♂️ Won’t include hairdressers and barbers
🤦‍♂️ Won’t include gyms, spas and beauty

Together with the Jobs Tax and new employment red tape, it’s a disaster for high streets.

[Robbie Moore MP @_RobbieMoore]

To everyone who took to the streets, who wrote to their MP, or who joined in the protests - thank you.

This is a significant step forward and will protect many more family farms and family businesses from crippling tax bills that targeted generations of British farming and industry.

This has only happened because we stood up and refused to be ignored.

However, let’s not forget that for over a year, our farmers have had huge anxiety and uncertainty hanging over their heads due to this policy, despite the entire sector warning Labour that their plan was wrong.

This has had real-life effects already - creating chaos, fear and real damage to confidence in the industry.

And whilst this change is welcome, the fight is far from over.

Because alongside the family farm tax, we’ve seen:

•⁠ ⁠delinked payments slashed
•⁠ ⁠SFI and capital grants paused
•⁠ ⁠employers’ NI hiked
•⁠ ⁠minimum wage increases without support
•⁠ ⁠the double-cab pickup tax
•⁠ ⁠fertiliser tax
•⁠ ⁠and so much more…

All of this has hammered farm cashflows and pushed too many businesses to breaking point.

Farmers still face a mountain of challenges created by this government, and I will keep fighting until the entire policy is scrapped - and until British farmers get the respect and stability they deserve.

We have committed to scrap the Family Farm Tax and the Family Business Tax if we are back in government - and that’s exactly what we will do.

[Matt Vickers MP @Matt_VickersMP]

Why did Rachel Reeves fail to set a higher threshold from the start, when they knew the anguish it would inflict on our farming communities?

Over the last year, Labour have put our farmers through HELL.

Just a few weeks ago, I was the ONLY MP in the North East to vote against this cruel Family Farm Tax.

This partial u-turn is welcome, but we need to see the detail and understand just how many family farms will still be affected.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

This is a huge u-turn by the government and a big win for the Conservative Party's campaign against Labour's Family Farm Tax.

Earlier this year, I was told to drop our campaign, that there weren’t many votes in it, there weren't many farmers, and people assumed they were wealthy enough to cope anyway. I ignored the advice and kept campaigning.

The Family Farm Tax is cruel, immoral and will not raise any money because farmers will stop farming. It would have pushed farms to the brink, damaged our food supply, and hurt the people who work long hours to feed the country.

Family farms aren’t big corporations. They are often small businesses passed down through generations, run by parents and children together, rooted in their local communities. If they fail, they are gone for good.

@Conservatives have always understood this. Similar ideas were put forward in the past and we said “NO!” because you don’t punish people who do the right thing, work the land, and keep the country going.

Labour, by contrast, came into office with no real plan and chose to target people they assumed wouldn’t vote for them anyway. Farmers have paid the price.

We refused to accept this. We kept campaigning, week after week. Thousands of people signed our petition and contacted their MPs in Labour seats. Their voices mattered and today’s u-turn shows they were heard.

Farmers are exactly the kind of people Conservatives stand up for: hard-working, responsible, family-focused, and committed to passing something on to the next generation. That feels especially important at Christmas, a time when family, care for others, and responsibility are at the heart of what we celebrate.

This fight isn’t finished. Other family businesses are still affected by Labour's tax raid, and we will keep pushing until the tax is lifted from them too. But today is an important win, and proof that standing up for what’s fair, even when the odds are against us can make a real difference.

[Camilla Tominey @CamillaTominey]

Who Rachel Reeves blames:

The Tories
Liz Truss’s mini budget
Brexit
Global headwinds
Trump’s tariffs
Austerity
War in Ukraine

Who voters blame:

Rachel Reeves

[Melanie Gooder @MelanieGooder]

@SusieCawood1 @GielgudTheatre We went to see Cabaret last week! Loved it, it was fantastic! 🎉🎊💃🏻🍾

[Melanie Gooder @MelanieGooder]

RIP Dickie 😢

[James Wright @JPBWFarm]

Will Steve be returning Lord Ali's wellies?

[James Cleverly🇬🇧 @JamesCleverly]

And what a cracking start it has been!

[Charlie Dewhirst MP @charliedewhirst]

This is absolutely appalling: Labour’s politics of envy is wreaking havoc on the lives of children. Parents who chose to send their kids to QM are not the super rich - many make huge sacrifices in the hope their children receive the best possible education.

[O'Neill Racing @oneill_racing]

I am deeply saddened to hear that my great friend Peter Easterby has passed.

Peter was a genius of a trainer who could train any horse from 5 furlongs to 4 miles.

We had a fantastic relationship and he was to brilliant to ride for.

1/2

[Tim Easterby Racing @EasterbyTim]

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my father Peter Easterby. He passed away peacefully in his own home with his family by his side. A true gentleman, legendary racehorse trainer, passionate farmer, lover of country sports and an incredibly proud father and grandfather.