The other day Caron mentioned that Jennie, the guide dog for Steve Darling, MP for Torbay, now has her own account on X at @rthonjennie.
First day of the new job. Looking forward to my first #PMQs. pic.twitter.com/IPemW6BRwH
— Rt Hon Jennie (@rthonjennie) July 9, 2024
You can see the two of them swearing in here:
Steve was subjected to some appalling abuse during the campaign, with Tory canvassers claiming that he was pretending to be blind and using his guide dog for “political purposes”. Any such nonsense is, of course, counter-productive and many local voters jumped in to defend him. He won with a respectable majority of over 5,000, overturning a Conservative majority of 17,000.
And Jennie has had a tough time too. Last year she was viciously attacked by an XL Bully dog, but fortunately she has made a full recovery.
Of course, Jennie is not the first Parliamentary guide dog. Many of us remember Labour MP David Blunkett who brought a series of guide dogs into the chamber during his long career as an MP and Cabinet Minister. On one occasion Lucy threw up during a speech by Conservative David Willetts. Let’s hope Jennie doesn’t suffer any accidents while in the House.
Finally we like this:
OBSESSED pic.twitter.com/zVgFipoiHe
— Emma Kennedy (@EmmaKennedy) July 10, 2024
Of course, Jennie is a Golden Retriever, but why spoil a good joke?
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.