Eagle-eyed viewers spot newest (canine) member of House of Commons on TV
Jennie is a guide dog belonging to new Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling, who is registered blind.
There was a notable new face in the House of Commons as MPs were sworn in on Tuesday. But it wasn’t an MP, it was Jennie the dog.
Jennie is a guide dog belonging to new Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling, who is registered blind.
Darling and Jennie took their seats in the Commons after Darling won the Torbay seat from the Conservatives in Thursday’s general election. He won 18,937 votes to incumbent Tory Kevin Foster’s 13,588.
🚨 NEW: The guide dog in the Commons belongs to the new Lib Dem MP for Torbay Steve Darling, who is registered blind pic.twitter.com/lrZSP1mldQ
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) July 9, 2024
Day 4 and its Jennie and I's first train journey to London as MP for Torbay. It's all getting a bit real now. pic.twitter.com/buqm790z9F
— Steve Darling MP (@cllrsdarling) July 8, 2024
Her presence gave eagle-eyed viewers something to smile about. BBC journalist Joe Pike pointed out it was "rare to see a dog" in the Commons that wasn't a police sniffer dog.
Rare to see a dog in the Commons (beyond police sniffer dogs).
A new Lib Dem MP is sitting with his guide dog, a golden retriever, which is being stroked by other MPs.— Joe Pike (@joepike) July 9, 2024
Ben Thompson wondered" "Who's gonna run his Twitter account?"
Having a dog in Parliament is like when someone brought a dog to school - The most exciting thing ever. What a good boi. Who’s gonna run his Twitter account? @Number10cat pic.twitter.com/QKyWKM152v
— Ben Thompson (@benirishhome) July 9, 2024
And Adrian Hilton was among those to say it was "great to see a dog back in the Commons".
Great to see a dog back in the House of Commons.🐾
Her name is Jennie (her human is Steve Darling MP @cllrsdarling). pic.twitter.com/M1Nj6OxMAj— Adrian Hilton (@Adrian_Hilton) July 9, 2024
WEVE GOT A WORKING DOG IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS OH MY GODDDD🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 https://t.co/fBCov9ldqA
— little old kasey 🌋 (@marywinchstr) July 9, 2024
But even as a newcomer to Westminster, Jennie has already been at the centre of political drama.
Last month, sight loss charity Devon in Sight accused Tory canvassers of “stooping to an all-time low” by allegedly suggesting Darling, who was previously a Torbay councillor for 30 years, was not actually blind.
According to a press release, a canvasser in the Livermead area suggested Darling was “faking his sight loss” and “using his guide dog for ‘political purposes’”.
Foster, the Tory candidate, said he had “never heard this type of line used”.
If that wasn't enough, Jennie was also the victim of an XL bully attack last year.
Darling told a local radio station of the incident: “As we walked past the driveway, sadly there wasn’t any gates there, and the dog just ran up and just launched itself straight at Jennie and went straight for her throat.
I am pleased to say Jennie is recovering well after an attack from an XL bully dog @guidedogs https://t.co/R3zlVaiE6W
— Steve Darling MP (@cllrsdarling) September 20, 2023
“It was awful, the screaming of Jennie on the floor, and so all you could [was] just drop down and start to try to grapple with the dog to try and get it to release Jennie. Fortunately… my colleague was there helping, trying to get the dog off, and then other people turned up and we ended up with four of us getting the dog off.
“I then held the dog until the owner turned up to reclaim it.”
Labour MP Marsha De Cordova, who was elected in 2017, is also registered blind. In 2022 she used a Commons motion to say there is a “crisis” in eye health and called for a national eye health strategy for England.