Former Tory MP Jonathan Gullis claims he is struggling to get a job

A former Tory MP has claimed he is struggling to get a job as a teacher due to his political views.

Jonathan Gullis, who was ousted by Labour from his seat of Stoke-on-Trent North at the general election, was a secondary school teacher before entering Parliament.

But he revealed yesterday that despite applying for a few teaching jobs since the election, he had ‘sadly not even had an interview yet’.

He told Times Radio: ‘It’s nearly three months now and I’m still without a job, right? And that’s scary. I’m a father of a four-year-old and a two-year-old. I’ve got a wife who’s extremely supportive.

‘I was a teacher before and I’ve applied for a few jobs and sadly not even had an interview yet. So actually, I think the days when being an ex-MP was something that was wanted or desired is no longer I think we’re now seen as a problem. And so that’s a challenge.’ 

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Asked whether he thought there was a problem with him having been a Conservative MP, Mr Gullis said: ‘When I entered teaching it was always slightly more centre-left leaning but I always felt that it was fair.

‘When I left the profession to enter Parliament I felt that being a conservative was something that was treated with disdain, and I do think there are a lot of schools that will see who I used to represent, and maybe my views which they may not like, and because of that - not because of what I can do as a teacher - but because of that I won’t even be given an interview.’

He said ‘too many activists in the classroom’ will allow politics to determine who is allowed to work as a teacher, which is ‘not good for pupils, it’s not good for parents, but particularly pupils because they need teachers to be coming to deliver high quality education.’