All MPs Want For Christmas Is... Trainers, A Nap, And A General Election

After a long year of controversial legislation, political infighting and many by-election campaigns, multiple MPs shared their wish for relaxation, food and quality time with family this Christmas. 

Thangam Debbonaire, Labour MP for Bristol West and Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said she would first like a nap, followed by the small demand of a general election.

"If GE not allowed, a new pair of running shoes as running keeps me fit and healthy mentally and physically," she said.

"And a spare pair of gloves."

Christian Wakeford, Labour MP Bury South, had a practical wish so he could make the most of his limited relaxation time on public transport.

"I don’t normally get much time to relax other than on the train, so Star Wars books to combine relaxing with my love of Star Wars," he said.

Cabinet Minister for Development and Africa and Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield Andrew Mitchell will have a packed 2024 ahead, as he will act as new Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron's deputy and represent the Foreign Office in the Commons.

His Christmas wish ahead of a busy year was for "a lie-in and a new dog".

Dan Jarvis, Labour MP for Barnsley Central and Shadow Minister for Security, had an appetite for some fine cheese and – as a military man – new shoes for his outdoor pursuits.

"Given it was once said that I live entirely off road-kill…which was a bit unfair… I am hoping Santa delivers some fine cheese (Wensleydale of course) and some crackers and chutney!" he said.

"And a new pair of fell running shoes!"

Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Jamie Stone is known for his unwavering commitment to the Christmas spirit. Each year he performs in a local pantomime, even previously dressing up in a frock and make-up for the dame role. He told Times Radio he had an "ambition" to secure the role of Captain Hook one day, relishing in playing the "baddy" and cracking out some evil laughs.

What does he want for Christmas this year? The last two Harry Potter books.

"I have not seen the films and I genuinely have no idea how the story ends," he told PoliticsHome, in perhaps the most extraordinary political revelation of the year.

"Though a careless friend did once let slip that Albus Dumbledore dies…"

Conservative MP for Banff and Buchan David Duguid and Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury and Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry both said they wanted to spend time with family and friends, with Duguid describing it as the "best thing I could wish for".

Thornberry said she hoped that all of her loved ones made it safely home for Christmas. "And I wish the same for everyone else's loved ones wherever they are.”

Ben Everitt, Conservative MP for Milton Keynes North and Chair of Housing Market & Housing Delivery APPG, said he wanted to spend his Christmas "visiting family and eating my own weight in pigs in blankets”.

Labour MP for Leeds North West Alex Sobel, who is Jewish, said: "Chanukah Gelt for all!"

Even at Christmas, politics never sleeps. Many MPs shared political wishes as the year draws to a close. 

Chris Skidmore, Conservative MP for Kingswood, said he would love Santa to deliver a "rollback on the rollback" of the government's net zero pledges, after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in September that the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars would be delayed from 2030 to 2035.

Skidmore, who will not be standing in the next general election as his seat has been abolished by the boundary review, is on a mission to advocate for net zero in whatever capacity he can.

“If I had my wish I would see the Offshore Petroleum Bill kicked into the long grass, being something I think shouldn't happen, doesn't need to happen... if that was a present I'd be very happy with that," he said.

Clive Lewis kept it short and sweet: "A wealth tax." The Labour MP for Norwich South has long made the case for taxing "super rich" businesses and individuals. 

Labour MPs, unsurprisingly, were keen for Santa to leave a general election under the Christmas tree.

Sarah Owen, MP for Luton North, said she "obviously" wished for a general election but also "time with people I love and make me laugh".

Anneliese Dodds, Labour MP for Oxford East and Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities and Chair of the Labour Party wished for a Labour government to deliver on her key policy pledges: "Support for women at work, a Race Equality Act, a ban on conversion practices, and a Labour Government to do all that!"

Labour MP for Pontypridd and Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding Alex Davies-Jones said: "My Christmas wish is that 2024 be just the year not the number of new ministers one needs to suffer before a Labour Government."

Labour MP for Brent North Barry Gardiner, however, had his eye on another electoral battle. 

"My Christmas wish is for Donald Trump to withdraw from the US Presidential race," he told PoliticsHome. 

Only a day after he said this, the Colorado Supreme Court kicked Trump off the ballot, citing a constitutional insurrection clause.

"I must have been a good boy this year, because look at what I got…" Gardiner joked, though it remains to be seen whether this ruling will completely upend Trump's campaign.

Lib Dem MP Sarah Dyke and Tory MP Steve Tuckwell, who both won their seats in by-elections this year, had local proposals to add to their Christmas wishlists. 

"A train station for the Levels at Somerton or Langport," Dyke said.

"The proposal was submitted almost two years ago and we’ve heard nothing from the government since July 2022."

For Tuckwell, there was nothing he would like more than to "extend the Christmas day suspension of ULEZ indefinitely and save local businesses and hard working families from the financial burden being imposed by the Mayor of London".

Pollsters have their own wishes too: Patrick English, Director of Political Analytics at YouGov, said for Christmas he would love "a little note from Rishi telling me the election date".

As Northern Ireland remains without a functioning devolved government, Claire Hanna, SDLP MP for South Belfast, hoped for the restoration of power-sharing in Stormont.

“I was hoping that Santa would be beaten to it for my top political wish: a restoration of the institutions in Northern Ireland, but it remains to be seen if the DUP are moved by the spirit of Christmas," she said.

"It will be hard not to think about Gaza over the break but alongside that will be enjoying a couple of weeks with no flights, lots of books and figuring out how to work whatever Santa brings my three daughters.”

Many others could not forget the suffering endured by people living in violent conflict zones. Conservative MPs Philip Dunne, Mark Logan, and John Penrose, and Labour MP Sarah Champion all wished for peace across the world, particularly in Gaza and Ukraine.

Penrose shared his wish for a "sustainably-democratic two-state solution in Gaza and the West Bank", while Champion said the "one thing" she wanted for Christmas was "an immediate end to the civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza and the West Bank".

Additional reporting by Adam Payne, Nadine Batchelor-Hunt, Tom Scotson and Caitlin Doherty.

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