The FT has the story:
Now here is a heart-warming tale of goodwill and political selflessness to start this cold winter day, a story of how a Lib Dem turned away an extraordinary piece of Tory intelligence and helped scupper Gordon Brown’s election plans.
Who is the man of honour in this a place of skulduggery and low politics? Arise Mike Hancock, the maverick Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South.
You can read the full details over on FT.com, which include this comment from Mike himself:
“I did only what I expect others to do to me,” he told me, as the sweet strings of a harp struck up in the background. “It was private. I didn’t keep it. Mistakes are easily made.”
One Comment
This story does not surprise. Mike Hancock is a very special person. Perhaps he is underrated by all except those who have voted for him in many elections over many years in Portsmouth. He is a fantastic campaigner.
He may appear to be unpredictable but that is only to those immersed in the Alice Through the Looking Glass land of politics. To the rest of the world he is just a person of honour with a strong sense of justice.
In ’86 I was sent to the Alliance group on Hampshire County Council to help it navigate through the trials and tribulations of budget day. Mike was group leader. The Tories may have had a majority but they had upset one of their members and for the first time in a hundred years might not have been able to carry their budget. They moved it and talked for ages. But when the first vote came they were speechless to find they didn’t have a majority. The shock was palpable.
In short, the decision took 17 hours, with lots of negotiations, amendments and more failures before a majority made up of the disaffected Tory, Labour and the Alliance group, plus the lawyers, could come up with a budget that commanded a majority. By then it was gone three in the morning.
When the group meeting in a committee room accepted the final proposal, everyone was dog tired and just wanted to get back into the chamber, vote and go home. But Mike kept them back a little longer to propose a vote of thanks to me for being with them that day. I shall always remember that act of kindness and thought.
Well done Mike!