Saturday, January 30, 2010

The further adventures of Alistair Swatridge

In September of last year Alistair Swatridge, the leader of the controlling Conservative group on Harborough District Council, suddenly resigned his seat - "amid speculation about his health", as the Leicester Mercury put it.

Friends of Mr Swatridge will be pleased to know that he has obviously enjoyed a rapid recovery. His website has suffered a sea change, or at least a canal change, and no longer deals with local politics. Instead, it declares:
Join us on its basin and canal trials and subsequently onto the adventure of a lifetime, with our continuous cruising of the canals and rivers within the UK and then if all is well onto Europe. Taking each day as it comes, without any deadlines or schedules, just relaxing and enjoying the peaceful countryside.
If is hard not to sympathise. If I were forced to deal with Harborough Conservatives on a daily basis, I too would find the call of the Grand Union and the Trent & Mersey hard to resist.

It was Mr Swatridge's resignation that led to the Market Harborough by-election that the Liberal Democrats won last Thursday.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you really win a by-election?

Does your cunning plan centre on driving ALL your opponents onto the canals?

Perhaps your 4% drop in the polls is a byproduct of this approach?

A life on the narrowboat's bow . . .

Jonathan Calder said...

By-election? I may have mentioned it.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Do you not understand what the man was put through? Or are you that uncaring?

dreamingspire said...

Ambitious project, that canal cruise - a party of 7 of us once did the Warwickshire ring and a bit more in a week, and that was hard work (100+m, 100+locks) - no, we did not spend a lot of time in the pubs (of which there actually were not a high number along that route), but were well provided for on board 'cos the trip was plotted in a wine bar. Bow thruster is a bit non-traditional, but, with a crew of 2 and a dog to keep in order, very sensible - a bit unfair of me to put it like that, perhaps, 'cos in my day coxing an 8 there were always bow and #2 men to control the front end when necessary, and the boat was only 60ft. So 58ft (rather than 70) a good idea (but 70 ft is exciting to handle).

Niles said...

Very dashing he looks, too in that cravatte.

Anonymous said...

What a hero you are! Where were you in 1982 when Mr Swatridge was figthing in the Falklands War? Ever heard of the Sir Galahad? Try looking it up sometime and then read your childish comments. You need to take a good look in the mirror and hang your head in shame!

Anonymous said...

he resigned due to making a good man hang himself!!! he soon became ill after he realised what he did!!!!! he has no right to be cruising down the canal-taking each day as it comes...... it wont bring our friend back from the dead.!alistar was as good as exiled from the village and god forbid if he ever came back!!!!!!