It’s always handy for parents to have someone they can use to put their children off any particular profession. ‘Don’t be a comedian, son – you’ll end up like that Eddie Izzard!’ ‘Don’t be a journalist, my girl – you’ll end up like that Julie Burchill!’ Quite a few politicians have vied for this inverted ‘top spot’ – that Jeffrey Archer, that Matt Hancock and that Jeremy Thorpe come quickly to mind. But on balance, I believe that Lloyd Russell-Moyle may come to top parents’ precautionary playlist.
What a ghastly creature he is. Some people – a minority, for sure, but a sizeable one – go into politics driven by altruism, but I’m convinced that the majority do it so they can show off, ‘showboat’ even. Russell-Moyle’s political career over the past eight years – when he was elected as Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown – resembles a charge-sheet rather than a résumé.
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