Lembit Opik
May. 8th, 2010 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloI once shared a lift with Lembit Opik. He's not someone you forget. He radiates laddishness and self belief. When the Life Force was being doled out he got a bigger than average dose.
His defeat in his Montgomeryshire seat was one of the anomalies of election night. If national trends had applied he would have held the seat- or lost it to a small swing. There's no way he should have been trounced the way he was. Clearly this was personal.
I'm not sure what it was that did for him. Perhaps it was his appearances in Hello and the News of the World. Perhaps it was his imaginative expenses claims. The self belief carries with it a sense of entitlement. The laddishisness can morph into sulky petulance. His private life lacks dignity.
But I'll miss him. They're a grey lot our politicians; the spotlight intimidates and flattens them. It's good to have a few cards, coves and geezers in the mix. We'll miss our cheeky boy.
His defeat in his Montgomeryshire seat was one of the anomalies of election night. If national trends had applied he would have held the seat- or lost it to a small swing. There's no way he should have been trounced the way he was. Clearly this was personal.
I'm not sure what it was that did for him. Perhaps it was his appearances in Hello and the News of the World. Perhaps it was his imaginative expenses claims. The self belief carries with it a sense of entitlement. The laddishisness can morph into sulky petulance. His private life lacks dignity.
But I'll miss him. They're a grey lot our politicians; the spotlight intimidates and flattens them. It's good to have a few cards, coves and geezers in the mix. We'll miss our cheeky boy.
