[Closed] a trustworthy and likeable MP..............

Gordon Prentice, Labour, Pendle

Dennis Skinner would be my shout.

I'll be so slated for this, it's William Hague for me.

A top favourite is/was Tony Benn, obviously not now.

Isn't it a contradiction in terms?

Has to go to somebody with no power and never likely to have any, since power corrupts, so yes Vince is a good choice 😉

Edit: I agree with both bunnyhop's choices.

I have been struggling with this one a lot recently and found it hard to come up with any really - even including MSPs

Ken Clarke is at least an honest scoundrel.

Anabel Goldie has played a limited hand well at Holyrood but I don't think I could ever trust her

Malcolm Chisholm is about as close as I can get I think.

Hi Ton, ive spoke to Harry the spider and i will use your entry for hit the north, you want me to send you a cheque??

Billy Connolly got it right when he said

'The desire to be a politician should automatically exclude you from ever being one'

When you think about it, it does make sense

Yeah I've always like William Hague and Ken Clarke too other than his involvement with a tobacco company.

teamyeti - Member
Hi Ton, ive spoke to Harry the spider and i will use your entry for hit the north, you want me to send you a cheque??

no mate, have it on me.........but
i hope you win like i was gonna do......... 😉

David Davis for throwing away his front bench position to have a by-election over civil liberties.

will be doin my best mate.

I'd have to agree with Dennis Skinner

Past MPs who I believe have been decent & trustworthy are
Tony Benn
Eric Heffer
David Davis

Based on my known knowns, I reckon Vince Cable but I'll be honest, it would hardly raise an eyebrow from me if that turned out to be wrong (or a known unknown)

I can think of only 2 people in recent years who have put their money where their mouth is, and stepped outside the molly-coddled tent to piss in instead

Robin Cook
David Davies

Skinner likeable ? lol

I used to think David Davis was a bit of a tit, esp with respect to the by-election, but after hearing him on Desert Island disks last year and learning a bit more about him, he went up in my estimation a lot.

/EDIT
FAO mods. The word tit, as in blue tit, great tit and long tailed tit should be 3 asterisks, not 4 🙂

+1 for Robin Cook
and regrettably Ann Widdecombe

David Davis - that was a cynical ploy for party political gain that failed - not some great idealist move. he is a slimebag.

In the past there did seem to be more.

Trustworthy and likeable is a hard combination - Skinner for example was hardly likeable I think. A real dogmatic and singleminded person

Skinner likeable ? lol

you've obviously never spoken to him

[i] he is a slimebag.[/i]

What makes you think that?

David Davis - that was a cynical ploy for party political gain that failed - not some great idealist move.

If we're talking ex-MPs, then Tam Dalyell?

...actually if we're talking ex-MPs (though in his case still a current politician), then I have to mention the ex-Welsh First Minister, Rhodri Morgan - the only MP I've met in a totally social sense (his daughter shared a house with mrs aracer).

Iris Robinson? oh sorry, i thought the question was who is derelict of all positive attributes....

"None of the above" always gets my choice...

Ian Munro - Member

"he is a slimebag."

What makes you think that?

Have you heard him speak? did you follow his resignation over the supposed matter of principle?

he clearly did that for political gain not idealism nd he failed miserably. He is thick and he tell lies = slimebag in my book.

I am not being party political on this I just find it hard to fins any politicians who are both trustworthy and likable. The trustworthy ones tend to be monomaniacs at best - Skinner / Dalyell et al. The likable ones tend to be rogues

I think TJ is quite wrong about David Davis but as he's a Tory then I expected not less 🙂

So what do you reckon to Hague then, TJ?

I think TJ is quite wrong about David Davis but as he's a Tory then I expected not less

Your opinion allthepies - note aracer agreed with me.

It really was a cynical ploy and he suckered loads of people - you included it would seem

Nothing to do with any party allegiance - I lauded a couple of Tories further up and of all current politicians Annabel Goldie the scots tory leader is probably the one I have most respect for for playing a very poor hand well. She has made the labour party in Scotland look small minded, petty and an irrelevance despite having very little representation.

The problem with ALL politicians locked into a 4-year cycle process, is that they always unavoidably operate via short-term solutions whilst trying to solve long-term problems. That's why nothing ever seems to get better.

A permanent, benevolent meritocratic dictatorship would probably be the way to go, but who'd have the nerve?

aracer - Member

So what do you reckon to Hague then, TJ?

Better than the average. Decent chap, believes he is honest but too close to Ashcroft for safety. He is a bit thick tho.

He is a bit thick tho.

TJ, enough about Ashcroft, how about Lord Paul? Non-Dom, up before the beak for some very dodgy expenses claims and one of Labour's biggest donors.....

Oh, and Hague being a bit thick? First at Oxford, MBA at INSEAD. Of course, only thick people can get that, can't they?

Anyway, my two penn'orth here;
Hague and Clarke appeal to me as they really do seem to say what they think.
Tony Benn, in a way, is someone I respect as, once again, he seemed to say what he realy thought. The way he and his family have handled a land access dispute around their estate has rather soured this, though.
Robert Key, Salisbury MP, always seemed bery good on local issues, which counts a lot for me.
Cleggy - Odd to say it, but I really do value the way he has taken up the cause of the armed forces at PMQs recently.

[i]Have you heard him speak? did you follow his resignation over the supposed matter of principle?[/i]

I have, which is when I thought he was a tit (and i'm sure there are forum threads from that time, when I said as much), then I discovered more about him and changed my mind.

Thick in the "nous" sense rather than booklearning - hence some of the stupid things he has done - like wearing a baseball cap for a photo op or boasting about the amount of beer he drank. getting so close to Ashcroft rather brings his judgement in to question as well.

Ah, fair enough. "Thick" in the same sense that Gordon is thick then.

TJ, are you also going to say that Gordon Brown is thick because of his recent "6 pints a day" claim? Or perhaps his banana diet? No? Well, how about [i]getting so close to Lord Paul rather brings his judgement in to question as well[/i]? Hmm. No?

CFH - Lord Paul has not lied nor caused his party to lie - that is the difference.

Ashcroft will be proven guilty soon enough. He is corrupt thru and thru.

anyway - why deflect criticism of your favourite party by criticism a party I have no allegiance to? You clearly have no reply to the truth about Ashcroft. He has put the tory party in a really awkward place as they cannot survive without his money but they know he is a corrupt liar and has not done as he has pledged - and what he has done is against his own parties policy.

If there was nothing wrong they would come clean and you know that

Bah, now I'm being discredited by CFH agreeing with me 😉

Brown is thick in that sense for sure - probably more so that Hague. I have little time for Brown nowadays as he is dragging the labour party down and appears unable to see this.

Lord Paul is not in any way comparable to Ashcroft - the difference is in the honesty. We know Paul is non dom He has not hidden this and he has not lied about his staus.

bump for the glitch

Anyway, enough TJ baiting (Ashcroft already well covered elsewhere)

I forgot two I have a lot of respect for;
Kate Hoey and Frank Field. Both of whom are willing to stand up to the party machine and speak their minds. I think that's really important, for anyone. Alongside being a good local MP on local issues, I think the ability to really say what you think and believe is vital.

You mean yuo have no way of defending the indefensible that is Ashcroft apart for attacking others?

Kate Hoey I give you - Field - no - a very nasty piece of work and very egotisitical.

It really is a thin field - trustworthy and likable

Douglas Hogg, anyone with the balls to claim money for moat cleaning gets my respect.