Maria Hutchings, Eastleigh Conservative candidate, plays hide and seek with the media

Norman LamontOne of my favourite moments from the 1997 general election campaign came when I was stood on a street corner in Harrogate, talking to a report about the challenge from Lib Dem candidate Phil Willis, who was trying to take the seat from the Conservatives. Suddenly, the journalist looked over my shoulder, muttered ‘excuse me’ and ran off down the street, partially dignified, chasing a van that had driven past behind me.

The reason? The van was that of the Conservative candidate, Norman Lamont, who had been spending the whole campaign trying to avoid talking to the press. The result? Much of the press coverage was dominated by stories of journalists trying to track him down around the constituency.

At least he had the excuse of having been Chancellor in a recession and then sacked by the Prime Minister. Some track record to try to avoid talking about.

Which means it says an awful lot about how much controversy Maria Hutchings, the 10-week abortion limit, come out of Europe, anti-equal marriage, don’t care about refugees Conservative candidate, has already accumulated such that she and her minders are now too playing the Norman Lamont game of hide and seek with the press.

And not just with the Jeremy Paxman and Michael Crick school of fierce interrogators but also from the mild-mannered and fair interviewer Norman Smith. Witness Sunday’s The World This Weekend report:

* Mark Pack is Party President and is the editor of Liberal Democrat Newswire.

Read more by or more about , , or .
This entry was posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections.
Advert

One Comment

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert



Recent Comments

  • Nonconformistradical
    @Peter Martin "Raising taxes generally will, at the moment, benefit for younger people who are struggling to pay increased mortgage costs too." How, if they a...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Steve, It is the lending process by commercial banks that creates what is often referred to as 97% of the money in circulation. It also the spending proces...
  • Peter Martin
    Raising taxes generally will, at the moment, benefit for younger people who are struggling to pay increased mortgage costs too. I admit it will be a hard sel...
  • Chris Perry
    P.S. Just by way of clarification. It is my belief that although people born in these islands might identify with their place of birth they are likely to descri...
  • Simon McGrath
    Have the Tories really 'underfunded ' the NHS. According to the Kings Fund , spending was £150.3bn in 2018/19 and £181.7bn in 2022/23 (all in real terms ). ...