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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dan Bloom

Tory-voting mum who attacked Tax Credit cuts on BBC is now a Labour councillor

A Tory-voting mum who savaged Tax Credit cuts on the BBC's Question Time four years ago is now a Labour councillor.

Michelle Dorrell triumphed on Folkestone and Hythe Council last night as part of a "red crescent" that tipped the town hall out of Tory control.

The 38-year-old, a mum of 8 after her second marriage, shot to fame in 2015 when she tearfully confronted Tory MP Amber Rudd over Tax Credit cuts.

Michelle cried "shame on you" to Ms Rudd, now Work and Pensions Secretary, adding: "I thought you would be the better chance for me and my children."

Her attack on the BBC's Question Time fuelled public outrage that eventually led to the cuts being scrapped by then-Chancellor George Osborne.

Local election results in full: Summary of all 248 council polls across England

Michelle Dorrell triumphed on Folkestone and Hythe Council last night (Michelle Dorrell)

Since her outburst Michelle has been busy - joining Corbyn-backing group Momentum and becoming co-chair of her Kent town's Labour Party.

She stood for the Labour nomination for parliament last year in the Dover and Deal Labour Party but was the runner-up.

The businesswoman has also remarried, closed her beauty business and begun working with groups that help refugees and push for school funding.

She said today: "That Question Time moment was a wake-up call.

"Not only for me, but maybe hundreds of thousands more people, that actually we're not getting the real information."

Michelle, who ousted Tories and UKIP after winning 639 votes in the East Folkestone Ward, said she stopped voting Tory after looked beyond the "mainstream media".

Local elections: Corbyn 'very sorry' for losses and admits Brexit was a factor  

She was elected despite Labour losing seats overall - which led to recriminations against Jeremy Corbyn for his Brexit policy (PA)
Tory MP Vicky Ford left in tears as conservatives lose hundreds of seats

She added: "We were certainly expecting a lift but we weren't 100% sure what that would be.

"We did have some fantastic support on the doorstep. There was also a lot of despondency and apathy from voters on the doorstep, which is understandable because it isn't so long since I was in the same position."

She was elected despite Labour losing seats overall - which led to recriminations against Jeremy Corbyn for his Brexit policy.

Remain-backing MPs want the leader to come down hard in favour of a second referendum and stop his "sitting on the fence" policy of keeping it as an option.

But Ms Dorrell, whose area backed Leave in 2016, said those MPs were a "distraction".

She added: "I am fully behind the NEC decision - I'm fully behind the Labour plan.

"I'm what you would call a Lexiteer or a left leaver."

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