After David Cameron came to Croydon and forgot which football team he had been briefed to say he supports, you might have thought that Gavin Barwell, desperately hanging on for his political career as MP for Croydon Central, would have learned the lesson: don’t try to do football, you’ll only get it wrong.
But Barwell’s bogusness caught him out once more.
Gavin Barwell after scoring the winner in the play-off final at Wembley. One of his many achievements as MP
In a gaffe-filled campaign over the last year, gaffe-prone Gav managed to score the own goal to end all own goals on the eve of the election when he tweeted that he had “worked with thousands of fans” to save Crystal Palace football club from administration in 2010.
He even went out of his way, to Selhurst Park which is outside his Croydon Central constituency, for a selfie to go with his latest bogus claim on social media.
Eagles fans seized upon Barwell’s latest dropped bollock with a mixture of indignation, derision and outright abuse.
The fans are particularly put-out, since the 2010 campaign to save the club was profoundly fan-based. And Barwell’s contribution was that he managed to write a letter – just the one – which he sent to the Chancellor.
The ill-judged tweet from the Sanderstead resident – he claims to be a Liverpool fan (Shankly would disown him) – drew a string of abuse on Eagles bulletin boards, and this succinct comment from one of his erstwhile constituents: “If he can lie about something like that, then what else is he telling lies about?”
We reproduce below a sample of the comments about Barwell and Croydon Tories posted by real football fans on the bulletin board yesterday:
“What a prick”
“Gerbil-faced prick”
“What did you actually do to ‘achieve’ this then Gavin? Prove it!”
“This seems to have back-fired on him somewhat, reading the comments. It’s his Gillian Duffy moment.”
“Barwell is a complete penis. If he was there that day (he wasn’t) then I might have taken the opportunity to clump him that I couldn’t take outside my mum’s house a few years previously. First rate digit.”
“My heartfelt apologies to the gerbil-faced, lying Tory twat, Barwell. It was Phil Thomas who I nearly had a ruck with outside my mum’s house.” [The Editor writes: how entirely out of character for Councillor Thomas]
“Surprise, surprise, another Tory liar. What a little wanker”
“You do realise that you’re all giving the tosser some credibility and a lot of free publicity, don’t you? Just let it go FFS.”
“No, we’re calling him out in a public online space for being a lying, crawling little ****.”
Imagine if every Palace fan in Croydon Central voted Labour today. In a marginal constituency that is tighter than a gnat’s bottom, it could even cost Barwell his seat.
All together now with Barwell’s Tory Anfield anthem: “And one will never walk on one’s own…”
- The Croydon constituency declarations are expected around 3.30am. With correspondents at all three Croydon counts, and in Sutton, plus national updates, join us after 10pm tonight for Inside Croydon’s unique take on Election Night
- Tories accused of ‘Nasty Party’ tactics over bogus letters
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Why all the surprise and indignation about Gavin Barwell’s claims?
Everyone knows he saved Crystal Palace single-handed, including one penalty when Julian was incapacitated, brought the horror of Westfield to Croydon all by his little, brave self, stood up alone and unaided against Elvery and Belvir who run the Council, forced them to apologise for charging for reading lessons, helped us all avoid the Viridor incinerator. The list is endless… Hopefully the same does not apply to his tenancy of the Central Croydon Constituency.
As previously suggested the posh boys need to steer clear of football. The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton (and to a much, much lesser extent Trinity) not at 3pm on a Saturday at Upton Park/Villa Park/Selhurst Park/Anfield*
*Delete as circumstances or memory dictate