Owen Smith: I’m normal… I have a wife and children

Oh dear. With nominations for the next Labour leader set to open in a matter of hours, now is not the best time for either leadership hopeful to suffer a PR disaster. Alas, this is exactly what has happened to Owen Smith thanks to an interview he gave to Sky News.

In the interview, Smith appears to claim that he is normal because he has a wife and children:

It's also 'normal' not to be married or have kids.

What the hell are people like this on about?pic.twitter.com/J7flWKiWK3

— PW @Retroid@mastodon.social & @retroid.bsky.social (@SuperRetroid) July 18, 2016

Given that his leadership rival Angela Eagle is a lesbian with no children, his comments are not going down well with liberal Labour supporters. Many have taken his words to show prejudice towards the childless as well as the LGBT community.

While it’s unlikely Smith meant to suggest that Eagle is not ‘normal’, given the trouble Andrea Leadsom got herself into this month when she talked about her family, Mr S suspects Smith ought to have realised he was on shaky ground as soon as the topic was mentioned.