Openess, New Labour style: a Times reporter “stalks” Gloria de Piero not to talk about her massive norks, but what she could actually do for her chosen constituency, but isn’t recieve gratefully:
“What on earth are you doing here?†she asks. I tell her I thought I’d come and see how things were going. “But I don’t understand why you’re here,†she says again. “We’re only doing regional press. We can’t do an interview. We’ve been through this.â€
I know. I don’t want an interview. I just want to see how the campaign is going.
[…]
When I say that not only is it actually happening, but also that it is actually happening to candidates all across the country and that she should probably be able to handle this, not only as a potential MP but also as a former political journalist, she rounds on me and says: “I’ve had requests from every national newspaper. Observer, Guardian, Mail. No, no, no. You’ve all submitted your requests and we’ve been through the process and we’re not doing anything . . .â€
The obsession of the British media with del Piero’s breats is obnoxious enough, but what’s worse is to realise that this sort of misguided attention is exactly what politicians want. Far better to fight a battle on the question of whether or not having done allegedly softcore naughty pictures at age fifteen makes you an unsuitable candidate than whether or not your politics are any good…