Their choice? Helen Harrison, who is Peter Bone's live-in partner. She is also an executive member of North Northamptonshire Council and a physiotherapist who could claim to be the only local name on the Tory shortlist.
I've seen it suggested that this is a Cunning Plan to dissuade Bone from standing as an Independent himself. But the way David Cameron used to flatter Bone at PMQs - whatever happened to Mrs Bone, by the way? - is a good example of the attitude to their far-right that has landed the Tories in their current mess.
It's time they started confronting the Bones of this world rather than constantly giving in to them. The Bones just bank their gains and come back for more.
As it happens, they had the perfect candidate at hand to start the fightback. One of the unsuccessful candidates on the shortlist this afternoon is a Church of England exorcist.
Though given Wellingborough Conservatives' declared approach to campaigning, this is a task that would have taxed Max von Sydow.
How times have changed when it comes to styles of reportage. 40 years ago there would've been lurid headlines about Helen Harrison being Peter Bone's 'live in lover' instead of 'live in partner'. I'm sure the popular press would also have made a lot of the fact that Bone and Harrison were married, but to other people, when they met, and that Harrison is fully 20 years younger than Bone.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, because she is a trained physiotherapist, I'm sure the press would've speculated about her giving Bone 'erotic massages' in his Westminster lovenest as their romance blossomed.
It's good to see that a respected blog of record is above such references.