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Out of the living ones, Red Ken and Boris spring to mind: both have managed to get up their respective parties' noses, and show the independence a proper city mayor needs.
Having not lived in the UK since the tail-end of the last Tory government I don't think I could name a single other politician, apart from Dave n' George. Maybe Ken Clarke, but that's about it. The others are names that appear in the newspaper, but I couldn't put a face to them.
Don't like the Lib-Dems and don't know much about this bloke, apart from his ability to pull despite [i]that face[/i], but I heard Lembit Öpik on telly the other day and he actually spoke sense.
Thatcher makes my ears bleed and my foot involuntarily starts swinging towards the tv. Cameron is also getting that way.
Perhaps surprisingly, Iain Duncan Smith and William Hague stand out for me.
I'm not a Tory, and am not necessarily a supporter of their views, but the way in which both of them have coped after being ousted as leader of their party shows real determination.
IDS went off and set up his own thnk tank which looks at taking social deprivation. Not sure on all of his proposals, but his heart's clearly in the right place. He's an appalling public speaker, mind you, and his writing's even worse.
William Hague...I just like the bloke. He's the local MP for my in-laws, and I've met him on occasion. He's an unrepentant old-school Tory, but doesn't have any of the baggage of xenophobia or racism that that used to denote. That said, he's a Yorkshireman, and that's a heavy cross for anyone to bear.
Torminalis, I find it impossible to dislike Gorgeous George - he does after all say all the right things. And doesn't he say them well ? I tried to hate him after Big Bro but failed. His performance before the US Senate was nothing short of spectacular.
Robin cook as he gave the go ahead for air strikes when I was serving in sarajevo which led to the immediate release of the Welsh infantry section that had been held hostage , and paddy ashdown for being a bootneck
Also William Hague - my parent's MP - comes across as a decent bloke and very capable, but doesn't take himself too seriously.
And he is a Yorkshireman.
From a party I would never vote for, I'd say Frank Field - he always seemed to want to improve the life of the poor more than advance his own career/pander to the jealously and hatred of success that blight his party.
but doesn't take himself too seriously.
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[url= http://www.google.es/images?rlz=1C1SKPC_enES392ES392&q=Alina+Kabaeva&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=349CTffTBYmHhQeQ_oW0AQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDgQsAQwAA&biw=1440&bih=745 ]Alina Kabaeva[/url]
Russian gymnast turned politician.
Yeah, Gorgeous George's performance in front of the US Senate turned me into a fan. Don't know if I'd ever vote for him though. Much the same applies to Boris.
I wasn't in the country in the Thatcher era, but admired her balls for defending the Falklands (where we have relatives). How many British leaders have successfully conducted a war without allies in the last 100 years?
When Galloway turned up at the Senate I really think they had no idea what they were letting themselves in for. They thought they could bring him in, lean on him a bit, give him a slap on the wrist and send him home to blighty. Incorruptible, despite what the propaganda machine might say about him.
I also really enjoyed watching him tear chunks out of Alistair Campbell last week on Question Time. Says what everyone else knows. 'Blood on your hands'. Love him.
Boris seems like the kinda guy who would get egged on by friends to do/take something stupid, everyone finds it hilarious and in a bemused kind of way he'd enjoy the fact people are laughing at him and accepting him into their group. I don't think I've ever seen him on TV and thought "I don't like him"
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Caroline Lucas.
Politician you say? Can I vote for somebody you've never heard of - Tom Wells. He stood for parliament (and came pretty close to defeating the longstanding Tory MP). He's also my local councillor.
Wouldn't say I like him but this was glorious:
boris plays on the buffoon thing when in reality he is not daft at all. He also has some poor views on Northerners - Liverpool in particular and has been chided for using racist language* as well. Serial philanderer and liar - very little there to like as a human being ignoring his politics.
*"the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."
Boris - he apologized for that one mind - not for the first or last time.
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Who'd have believed the foresight in realising that one day he'd be chancellor of the Exchequer eh?
Serial philanderer and liar
ie a politician
fair point but these are generally not qualities that are admired in peole are they? They are not all liars --he said in a moment of hopeful foolish optomism.
This should transcend politics... more about personal qualities.
Agree with Ken Clarke, Livingstone, Benn, Ashdown.
Would add all (well, perhaps not that many?) those consituency MPs who do actually stand up and represent the interests of their consituents, rather than pandering to the pwoer brokers.
Robert Hicks, Ian Penhaligon, Matthew Taylor...
Galloway is great. A man with strong convictions.
Ian Penhaligon
Who's Ian Penhaligon ? Is he related to the late David Penhaligon ?
BTW David Penhaligon was imo probably the most charismatic MP I've known of.
How many MP's have you [b]known[/b] 😉
What's there to like they are all politicians. 🙄
Boris is very good at using his meeja chums to create a nice myth of himself (and to discredit Ken), but the truth is is that he's a conniving Tory shyster like the rest of 'em; puts the demands of big business before the needs of the people of London. All the nice media-friendluy propaganda stuff like 'Boris Bikes' was in fact planned and organised during Ken's regime. Boris just takes credit for them. Several of Boris' deputies have turned out to be corrupt. He has failed to deliver on many pledges which he based his mayoral election campaign on. He has failed to support transport workers fighting to protect their jobs, and ultimately the safety of London transport users. He has failed to deliver on his promise of more 'affordable' housing. He's allowed the Olympic programme to descend into a farce. His tenure has left Londoners short-changed.
In short, he is nothing but a career politician using his Mayorship to boost his future Tory party leadership credentials.
But what else would you expect from a member of the Bullingdon club? To actually be able to empathise with the people he's sposed to care about?
PFt. London improved greatly during Red Ken's regime. I can't wait until he's back in his rightful job once more, and that 'bufoon' is ousted.
[i]They are not all liars --he said in a moment of hopeful foolish optomism. [/i]
😉 no chance dude.
David Penhaligon
Correct - confusing him with someone else of the same name. Memory must be getting bad, although that was a while back now
Galloway is great. A man with strong convictions.
Much as I found it amusing when he went to the senate, he has all the sort of strong convictions that I'd expect from a publicity seeking self serving p*ick.
David PenhaligonCorrect
Ah right, well you have my agreement on this one then - I thought maybe a son or brother might have entered politics. And yes, as I've mentioned, David Penhaligon was a really charismatic MP. The manner of his death was both tragic and fitting - he never forgot the people which he represented, even in the busy period leading up to Christmas.
How many MP's have you known
Well if you look at what I wrote, you will see that I said : "I've known of" .......I have known of very many MPs.
But if you want to know how many MPs I've known, then the answer is not very many .....and only two [i]really well.[/i]
I always liked Tommy Sheridan, especially after I watched him pump my missus. She had a great time.
Much as I found it amusing when he went to the senate, he has all the sort of strong convictions that I'd expect from a publicity seeking self serving p*ick.
I was happy that he ousted that far worse self-serving scumbayg, 'Blair Babe' Oona King, who oversaw the sell off of large amounts of social housing in Tower Hamlets, as well as several public buildings (including those bequeathed to the local people by various philanthropists), and the obscene landgrab by greedy private developers, the destruction of adult Further Education in the borough, amongst other crimes. The same Oona King who used her meeja connections to wage a dirty campaign against Gorgeous George.
Galloway has more integrity in his little finger, than King had in her entire being.