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General Election 2019: Jonathan Ashworth claims Canterbury Conservative activist Greig Baker leaked conversation about Jeremy Corbyn

A senior Labour figure has claimed a Conservative party activist from Canterbury is the source of a leaked conversation in which he questions Labour’s chances at the election.

Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth alleges Greig Baker, who stepped down as Canterbury Conservative Association chairman earlier this year, passed a recording of their phone call to the Guido Fawkes website.

Jonathan Ashworth claims Greig Baker, inset, leaked their conversation
Jonathan Ashworth claims Greig Baker, inset, leaked their conversation

In the conversation, Mr Ashworth expresses doubts about his party’s hopes of winning - but names Canterbury as one seat that could buck the trend.

He says: “I just can’t see it happening. It wouldn’t surprise me – for sake of argument – we held Canterbury because of sort of middle-class, Guardian-reading people, but then the Tories take Bolsover off of Labour it wouldn’t surprise me.

"The electoral map has being going topsy-turvey because of Brexit and Corbyn.

“Outside of the city seats, if you are in small town midlands and north, it’s abysmal out there. They don’t like [Boris] Johnson, but they can’t stand [Jeremy] Corbyn and they think Labour’s blocked Brexit.

"I don’t think their long-term gains for the Tory party. But I can well see them going Tory at this election and if Labour ever got its act together they presumably would fall back.”

Interviewed on the Victoria Derbyshire show on BBC One, he said: "Of course it makes me look like a right plonker, but it's not what I mean when I'm winding up a friend, trying to sort of, pull his leg a bit."

He said he was "having a bit of banter" with his friend, "because he was saying, 'oh, the Tories are going to lose' and I was, like saying, 'no you're going to be fine', joshing as old friends do.”

"And he's only gone and leaked it to a website - selectively leaked it - and I thought he was a friend, Greig Baker, but obviously he's not."

Mr Baker, who oversaw the selection of Conservative candidate for Canterbury Anna Firth, has been approached for a comment but has yet to respond.

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