'Nerds who love to door knock': LinkedIn post sets off tensions between Trumpers and UK officials

24 October 2024

After a series of Conservative prime ministers in the U.K. — including Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak — the Labour Party enjoyed a major landslide in early July. And Keir Starmer, a long-time Labour leader, was sworn in as prime minister on July 5.

National Public Radio (NPR) described Labour's victory as Tories' "worst defeat in their party's nearly 200-year history."

Starmer, like many other U.K. politicians, has been paying close attention to the United States' 2024 presidential election and is waiting to see whether the next U.S. president will be Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump. The U.S. election has been enjoying extensive BBC coverage, and U.K. reporters — like their U.S. counterparts — have been emphasizing that poll after poll is showing a very tight race, with no clear frontrunner.

In an article published on October 24, Politico's Emilio Casalicchio describes tensions between Starmer's office and Trump supporters stemming from a LinkedIn post by Labour Head of Operations Sofia Patel.

In an August post, Patel wrote, "I'm planning a trip for Labour Party staff to help our friends across the pond elect their first female president (second time lucky!). Let's show the Democrats how to win elections!"

The possible "first female president" Patel was referring to is, of course, Harris. And Trump supporters, from X/Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) were quick to voice their displeasure with Patel.

Democrats, meanwhile, distanced themselves from Patel — as they didn't want to give the impression of welcoming foreign involvement in a U.S. election.

"Regardless of the merits of the legal complaint," Casalicchio reports, "internal fire began to turn on Patel for the ambiguous wording of her LinkedIn posts.

But Labour aide Tara Jane O’Reilly believes that all the criticism of Patel is an overreaction.

In an October 22 post on X, formerly Twitter, O'Reilly wrote, "This has been blown way out of proportion and it's unfair for the staffer - who has always stayed behind the scenes - to be thrown into international spotlight for what is clearly an innocuous project. I hope the higher ups at Labour are supporting her because this is mental."

In a tweet posted the next day, O'Reilly added, "The reality is a lot of activists and staffers in British politics are just that...nerds. Nerds who love to doorknock and deliver leaflets and feel like they are part of something. That's it."

Read Politico's full report at this link.

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