Sunday, August 04, 2024

Lord Bonkers' Diary: I've been running my eye over our new MPs

You know what? I bet Josh Reynolds has never heard someone make a joke about his name and the great painter before. He's going to be so amused!

In his maiden speech Josh admitted he couldn't paint to save his life, but went on to point out that Stanley Spencer's Cookham is in his constituency. Lord Bonkers once asked Spencer to paint one of his barns, but it turned out to be an unfortunate misunderstanding.

Friday

One advantage that my political experience brings is the ability to spot talent, so I have been running my eye over our many new MPs. Epsom and Ewell’s Helen Maguire, to take one example, is a former captain in the Royal Military Police and thus a chief whip in the making if ever I saw one. 

Roz Savage from the South Cotswolds is the first woman to row single-handedly across three oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian. She did so in order to raise awareness of environmental issues, and I shall certainly invite her to cross Rutland Water with the same aim in mind, though not while Ruttie is in her current mood. 

As a former archaeologist, Charlotte Cane from Ely and East Cambridgeshire is bound to take an interest in someone as ancient as me, though I have my doubts about Joshua Reynolds, who took Theresa May’s Maidenhead. These artist fellows can be A Bit Of A Handful – the tales I could tell you about my old friend Augustus John! 

At least I shall now have a reliable source among our team in the Commons in the shape of Steve Darling’s delightful guide dog Jennie.

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West, 1906-10.


Earlier this week in Lord Bonkers' Diary

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