A former ‘Turnip Taliban’ rebel who is fighting to topple Liz Truss at this year’s election says he would “rather a lettuce as an MP” – or perhaps his favourite root vegetable – than the former prime minister.
James Bagge was part of a group of Norfolk Tories, known as the Turnip Taliban, who opposed the politician right from the outset of her parliamentary career when her selection in 2009 caused outrage among local Conservative members in South West Norfolk.
Despite 15 years having passed, his fierce criticism shows no sign of abating, and he is now in the midst of campaigning to bring an end to her time as a Norfolk MP in what would be one of the biggest upsets in the history of politics.
‘It’s a referendum’
The former lawyer and army officer’s campaign has been backed by a diverse group of celebrities, including broadcaster Anne Robinson and actor Rupert Everett, as well as former Tory ministers Rory Stewart and David Gauke. This week, former Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, went to the constituency to help Bagge with his campaign.
Bagge believes for the people of South West Norfolk, this year’s General Election is a “referendum on Liz” – a single issue he thinks voters are most concerned about in the constituency. And he believes his cause is getting her supporters rattled, suspecting allies are removing his posters quicker than he can put them up.
James Bagge hopes “for the sake of South West Norfolk” he can persuade this part of the county, which covers a vast area of farmland, rural villages and the market towns of Thetford, Downham Market and Swaffham, to boot her out by choosing him instead.
“You mention her name on the doorstep and people become very animated, there is huge antipathy towards her,” he says. “The idea that South West Norfolk would re-elect her would be, I think, a huge embarrassment and it would be an unbelievable result for the rest of the country.
“It would be rewarding failure.”
“South West Norfolk would be better with a lettuce but a turnip would be even better,” he said, in reference to the Daily Star stunt in which the decaying vegetable managed to outlast Ms Truss’ tenure as prime minister.
Turnip Taliban
Bagge was one of the rebel Tories who, in 2009, called for Truss to be deselected as the Conservative candidate for the seat. She had been parachuted into the constituency by the national Tory party as one of prime minister David Cameron’s A-list of priority candidates. This caused a split in the local party who were upset that a metropolitan career politician had been chosen for the rural hinterland, exacerbated when members learned of her affair with (married) Tory MP Mark Field.
But attempts to block her standing as an MP failed and she has enjoyed a strong majority since 2010. Despite the vehemence of his criticism, Bagge insists he has “nothing against her personally” but that he just wished “she’d find another constituency”.
“Having her imposed on us was always going to be a mistake. It has never worked. The constituency was alien to her,” he adds.
Bagge believes “without a doubt” her short premiership will go down in history as the worst ever, and called her recent suggestion Tony Blair should have the title as “frankly, outrageous”.
“He was re-elected three times, that is a damned sight longer than 49 days,” the 71-year-old adds.
‘Very dangerous’
Bagge says he has always been a centrist and claims that the Tory Party has moved to the right – something he says is “very dangerous” for the country. It comes as Reform UK led by Nigel Farage, has surged in the polls, with this rise in popularity having the potential to “kill the Tories” according to some political commentators.
Farage himself has described Reform as a “brand new conservative movement.”
Asked about Liz Truss’ influence in this, Bagge says: “She would be leading this right-wing element on the backbenches [if she was re-elected]. They amount to nothing more than a bunch of snake oil salesmen flogging simple solutions to intractable problems.
“I think traditional Conservative would be horrified by this fast move to the right.”
Poster skulduggery
With the election heating up and growing more bitter, as reported in Pecksniff, Bagge believes he has become the victim of a targeted campaign to remove his posters. He has had several removed by Norfolk County Council’s highways teams within hours of being put up, while others have mysteriously vanished. One of the banners removed was on the outside wall of the Castle Hotel in Downham Market. The owner replaced the banner with one higher up.
Meanwhile, his rivals’, including his closest foe, Liz Truss, have remained on roadsides around South West Norfolk untouched for nearly a fortnight.
‘Local champion’
James Bagge, who promises to be a “local champion” for the people of South West Norfolk, hopes to influence change on a number of local issues. These range from access to healthcare services to failures in the school curriculum, which he sees as causing “so much pressure” on pupils due to the focus on exams. He has promised to remain an independent if elected and that he would refuse any attempt to make him turn Tory once again.
“If I hold the balance of power in the House of Commons, South West Norfolk would have won the lottery.”
Who is James Bagge?
Bagge served in the army from 1972 to 1976 in Cyprus, Northern Ireland, mainland UK, and in Australia as aide to Sir Mark Oliphant, governor of South Australia. He qualified as a barrister in 1979, worked for three years at the Serious Fraud Office and became a partner at the international firm Norton Rose Fulbright.
After working as a consultant for the Central Bank of Ireland for five years, he co-founded and is the executive chairman of Bvalco, a consultancy specialising in reviews of the effectiveness of the boards of public companies.
He was appointed high sheriff of Norfolk in 2017 and as a deputy lieutenant in 2020, though he resigned from this position just before he launched his campaign.
His father, the late Sir John Bagge and his older brother, Sir Jeremy Bagge, are both former county high sheriffs, with an ancestral home at Stradsett Hall, near Downham Market. Bagge served as a volunteer adviser for Norfolk Citizens Advice and is chair of the charity’s development committee.
He walked over 1,500 miles to Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain, and then organised further charity walks in Norfolk to raise more than £130,000 for unpaid carers and other Norfolk charities. He is also a patron of the Open Road charity in King’s Lynn and chair of the trustees of the Swan Youth Project in Downham Market.
Via LDRS
