Leaving aside the unfortunate episode when she briefly crossed the floor, she has consistently been one of the most impressive members of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party
I can confirm that Jennie is in good health: she has a nice wet nose, as I learnt when she booped me on her way into the Glee Club at last year's Lib Dem autumn conference. I felt honoured.
Photo from Steve Darling on Bluesky.
I walked The Salt Path myself – we called it the South Coastal Path in those days – from Minehead to Weymouth, over four summer holidays, in the Eighties and Nineties.
Don't tell Jennie, but I left out the stretch through Torbay (my guidebook said it was allowed) because it was so built up.
Saturday
How sad that an innocent act by Jennie, quite the most sensible member of the new Liberal Democrat intake in my experience, has been blown up out of all proportion! There can be few MPs who have not crossed the floor at one time or another to have their tummy rubbed. I know I did.
The whole affair has placed a hefty spoke in the wheel of my scheme to encourage government MPs to cross in the opposite direction. I had planned for Jennie to wander over carrying a copy of Labour’s last manifesto in her mouth, lay it at the feet of carefully selected MPs and then give them her saddest look.
I’m no Clement Freud, but if I know my human psychology, this would have had those MPs sobbing, begging for forgiveness and promising to take on an arduous Focus round within minutes.
The Mail give the story one of its multideck online headlines:
EXCLUSIVE A day in the life of Britain's most famous guide dog: Watch how Jennie the golden retriever went from a horror XL Bully attack to the Lib Dem's secret weapon at MP Steve Darling's side
And the meat of the story is here:
'I got approached last night when we were in the Chamber and asked to defect to the Labour Party,' Liberal Democrat Steve Darling tells me, a laugh playing across his face in his too-warm office, deep in the maze of Westminster.
After 30 years as a councillor and leader of the local authority in his native Torbay, the MP's fierce loyalty to his constituents would make him a thrilling scalp for any political campaign.
And with cherry red Doc Martins, he is as cool as any of the government's fresh-faced front bench.
'Strangely enough I said no,' he answers himself with a delighted laugh – because everyone in the room knows the real reason that Starmer wants Mr Darling on his side.
The object of their envy lies next to him, sprawled out on the green-patterned carpet, absentmindedly alternating between a red dinosaur toy and searching looks for attention.
Yes, it's Jennie, who as the Mail goes on to say:
has captivated the public with her long naps in PMQs and eagerness to get some love from nearby politicians – sparking fun-filled viewing for even the most yawn-inducing of debates.
Wednesday
Despite my hiding behind a tree, I am accosted by Freddie and Fiona in Westminster. “Just the man!”, says one. “We need you to talk to the parliamentary party about our new campaigns: supporting private education and landowners,” says the other.
I reply that if they’re after someone to say obliging things about schoolmasters then they’ve picked the wrong peer, but I do happen to have a talk ("A Ha-ha is No Laughing Matter”) on the burden of owning a country estate that I give to Women’s Institutes and the like here in Rutland.
It goes down a storm with our MPs, though at one point I catch Jennie rolling her eyes and feel a little ashamed.
Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West, 1906-10.
Earlier this week in Lord Bonkers' Diary
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
I just hope this piece in Big Issue doesn't go to her head:
The most popular newcomer in parliament knows I’ve been eating bacon and sausages. Jennie leans on my knee and licks my hand. But she’s not fussy. She nibbles on the end of a banana which Steve Darling, the Liberal Democrat MP for whom Jennie is a guide dog, feeds her as she wiggles in excitement beneath the table.
As Darling and I munch on the breakfast served up in parliament (£2.75 for pretty much an entire full English), Jennie sits loyally at his feet. She’s not suited up in her guide dog’s uniform right now, so she can enjoy chilling. ...
Jennie’s a welcome addition for parliamentary staff too, who rush to bring her a bowl of water which she gulps down with speed while we sit outside the Commons overlooking the Thames opposite the London Eye.
Security guards outside parliament - "scary men with big guns" - look at Jennie with adoration, as though she is their newborn child, Darling tells me.
The interview does eventually get on to Steve's work as an MP:
On Monday (22 July) Darling handed in a Federation for the Blind petition against ‘floating bus stops’, which have a cycle lane between the stop and the pavement, and can be “terrifying” for disabled people.
He also wants better support for disabled people to get into employment, to ensure that “more employers are alive to disability issues”, and for the government to fix the “broken” benefits system which is trapping people in poverty.
But if you want to read ore about saintly dogs, I recommend the Instagram account devoted to Ginger, a pit bull terrier who fosters kittens.
And it was taken by Danny Chambers, who is now the Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester.
When @rthonjennie clocked @Number10cat
— Danny Chambers MP 🔸🩺 (@DannyVet) July 24, 2024
Hoping not to have to put my veterinary training to use. pic.twitter.com/a5zknvyjjr
Incidentally, Danny has announced he will no longer practise as a vet now's he's in parliament.
Which will come as a disappointment to Lord Bonkers:
I have always rather envied my setters when I take them to our local vet. He doesn’t ask them lots of damn-fool questions or tell them they're drinking too much. If this fellow gets in, I shall see if he will take me on to his books.
Favourite interview of the week - new Lib Dem MP Steve Darling on his guide dog Jennie stealing the show in the Commons.
— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) July 11, 2024
More on the pod, inc @GraemeDogfather on what dog Starmer should get
🎧 https://t.co/ffgoWIQSq5
pic.twitter.com/jYakn1BF30
