Читать книгу Crap MPs - Dr. Grosvenor Bendor - Страница 18

(b.1956) Labour, Salford 1997–

Poor Hazel. She just wanted to be loved. And she was doing so well. After a series of junior ministerial positions, she joined the Cabinet in 2006 and quickly became one of the public faces of the government. If things were going badly, you could be certain that she would be touring the TV studios, and her chirpy voice would be on the Today programme to tell you just how rosy everything was in the garden. When she stood for the Labour deputy leadership in 2007, photos of her astride her motorbike showed her credentials as a woman of the people, while supporters’ T-shirts proclaimed, ‘We’re Nuts About Hazel’. So popular had this bearer of good news become that, in the contest, she stormed to last place.

But nothing deterred the irrepressible Ms Blears. Nothing, that is, until the expenses scandal of 2009. No one would deny her commitment to her beloved Salford and its voters, but her attitude to other matters left her vulnerable to criticism. For tax purposes, she declared her London property her primary residence, which meant that she avoided capital gains tax on a hefty profit. But she had told the Commons’ authorities that it was her second home – on which, of course, she could claim expenses. It turned out that she had stayed in expensive hotels for a while after she had sold her London home, and had then purchased a pricey bed and a new television. But who would begrudge her these little privileges?