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Former Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathan Gullis has still not found a permanent job – 177 days after losing his seat at the General Election. The former deputy Tory chairman has revealed he has even struggled to secure interviews since July 4.
However, he has been earning money through freelance and consultancy work. The outspoken 34-year-old has previously blamed his difficulties in finding teaching work since leaving politics on being a Tory.
He suggested there were ‘too many activists in the classroom’ which was stopping him getting any interviews in schools – and said the education profession treats Tories ‘with disdain’.
Speaking to LBC this week, the dad-of-two said: “What I wasn’t mentally prepared for was just how difficult it was going to be to even get interviews in some cases in the work space. I’ve been open with my own challenges, depression for all my adult life and for most of my teenage years as well. Fortunately I’ve always had the love and support of my family and loved-ones around me.
“I’ve done some consultancy, I’m doing a bit of freelance but I haven’t got anything permanent and obviously I’ve got a four-year-old and a two-year-old. I’ve got a wife who’s made incredible sacrifices in her own career to support my dream and ambition of being an MP and serving the constituents of Stoke-on-Trent North.
“And now that uncertainty adds pressure, particularly at a time when you want to give family and friends gifts and presents and everything… it’s tough. My grandfather always told me just keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep putting yourself out there and eventually something will come up.”
Mr Gullis picked up the seat in 2019 amid a collapse of the so-called Red Wall in the North and the Midlands which ushered several first-time MPs into power. His campaign was fraught with controversies after he was spotted hitting the trail with a convicted heroin dealer prompting allegations of hypocrisy from Labour.
He had previously described drug dealers and those committing anti-social behaviour in his area as “savages”, “scroats” and “scumbags” in a video filmed in his constituency.
In other bizarre moments during his tenure, he claimed he’d been forced put ‘bulletproof clingfilm’ on his home amid safety concerns and told a Post Office inquiry that he hadn’t watched the recent ITV drama because he’d been too busy watching Paw Patrol.
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