Eric Pickles interview: multiculturalism is to blame for Tower Hamlets electoral fraud

Sir Eric Pickles looks every bit the diamond Tory geezer. As we sit down in a room overlooking Big Ben for his first interview since leaving the Cabinet, the 63-year-old MP for Brentwood and Ongar has dressed for the occasion: purple braces, monogramed shirt cuffs, pocket square and a golden Rolex. Yet his demeanour does not match the bling. Pickles’ laid back Yorkshire conversational style and dry wit are not what you would expect from a politician responsible for slashing millions from the budgets of local councils.

But there is nothing relaxed about Sir Eric’s attitude towards his new assignment: tackling corruption, both in finance and politics. As the government’s new ‘anti-corruption Tsar/champion’ — ‘I can’t say I am very fond of either title’  — Pickles is now the man responsible for cleaning up the darker corners of public life. Sir Eric’s main focus is electoral corruption, in light of what happened in Tower Hamlets.