Kevin Hollinrake mocks Labour minister who called warm ale and a black Labrador a 'far-right fantasy'

From the Newshound archive · first published 29 September 2026 · last updated 30 September 2026.

Conservative Party chair Kevin Hollinrake has ridiculed Labour Nature Minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter after she claimed a vision of Britain featuring warm ale and a black Labrador in a country pub was a "far-right fantasy that never really existed". Hollinrake, a self-described pub-goer with a black Labrador of his own, posted a photo of himself in exactly that scene. Riddell-Carpenter told a Labour conference fringe event she lies awake at night fearing the "far right" will weaponise nostalgic images of the countryside at the next election.

Riddell-Carpenter, MP for Suffolk Coastal, also cited fox hunting symbolism as part of what she called an unwanted "far-right nostalgic vision of Britain".

Political commentator Benedict Spence called her remarks "sinister", warning they amounted to a "deliberate policy to sideline a way of life".

Hollinrake quipped 'I don't consider myself far-right — thank you,' laughing off the suggestion that enjoying a country pub makes someone an extremist.