The news has been coming so thick and fast of late that every week there are dozens of stories we don’t have time to linger over. Major scandals take up all our attention, only to fizzle out or be replaced by new ones. All the while there are little bits of roadkill that are at least as suggestive. Bear with me as I address one such recent fatality.
We seem to expect everybody in public life to have the sexual history of an especially devoted nun
Daniel Korski was the deputy head of the No. 10 policy unit when it was David Cameron’s turn to be prime minister. Korski quit politics after the Leave vote and started a tech business. All fine and dandy. Except that then, this year, he made the fateful decision to re-enter politics, putting his name forward to be the Conservative candidate for mayor of London.
There’s a thankless task, and one which as a result should inspire a certain degree of admiration. Neither Korski nor any of the others in the running have the slightest household name recognition. Each of them stands next to zero chance of actually becoming the next mayor in the predominantly left-wing city-state of London. So it is a rather admirably kamikaze-like even to consider running for this position. But someone has to challenge Sadiq Khan, and Korski thought it could be him.
We live in strange times. On the one hand the country is beset by a libertine urge – even a satanic urge (if you look at the performances of many of the pop stars whom the public are encouraged to admire). On the other hand we seem to expect everybody – or almost everybody – in public life to have the sexual history of an especially devoted nun.
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