Trade unionists in Merseyside awarded the area’s only Tory MP “Scrooge of the Year” yesterday for her implementation of benefit sanctions.

Esther McVey, Conservative MP for Wirral West, is the Tory minister responsible for employment who has overseen the imposition of punitive benefit sanctions on Britain’s worst-off and cuts which have thrown over a million families into dire poverty.

Desperately needed benefits are being axed because a victim is minutes late for an appointment or other spurious reasons.

Wirral Trades Union Council conducted a survey among local people and trades unionists on who should be named “Scrooge of the Year” and Ms McVey easily topped the poll.

The award was made “for her tireless work forcing unwaged people onto zero-hours contracts.

“She is also the Tory minister who developed the benefit sanction regime to such an extent that almost 1,282,497 families have had their benefits totally cut.”

In second place was Sports Direct, a company which has over 80 per cent of its staff on zero-hours contracts.

Wirral TUC secretary Alec McFadden said: “This award is of course nothing to be proud of.

“Benefit sanctions are one of the main reasons that over a million families have been forced to rely on foodbanks in 2014.

“Ms McVey however claimed earlier this year that ‘only 60,000 people were likely to use foodbanks’.”

Merseyside County TUC held a Christmas March and rally last night where the award was announced.

Wirral trades unionists are running a campaign to have Ms McVey ousted at May’s general election.