You do wonder what was in Stephen Tall’s mind. He could so easily have said: If the Lib Dems only get 24 seats, I’ll bake everyone lemon drizzle cake. But, no, he said he’d run naked down Whitehall. It’s one thing to do it in the pub with a few mates, but he did it on live tv.
Yesterday, Stephen’s run hit the Sun. Not the yellow thing in the Sky, the Murdoch raggy thing in the newsagent.
A prominent Lib Dem will run half a mile down Whitehall semi-naked after losing a bet.
Before the general election Stephen Tall, the former deputy Lord Mayor of Oxford, bet the Daily Politics that if the Lib Dems were reduced to 24MPs or fewer he would do a naked dash.
The party was all but obliterated at the polls in May with just eight MPs returning to the Commons.
And now Mr Tall, a Lib Dem blogger, has pledged to jog naked from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square – for the viewing pleasure of office workers from a string of government departments.
There is a particularly cringeworthy bit of photoshop featuring Stephen and Dan Hodges who has yet to set a date to fulfil a similar pledge made in 2012 about the level of the UKIP vote. I’d tell you to avert your eyes, but if I’ve had to endure the trauma of looking at it, so should you.
Anyway, if you’ve had a good laugh at Stephen’s expense, you really should donate to his appeal to raise money for Medecins sans Frontieres. The dangers faced by their people became only too clear last weekend after the airstrike on the hospital at Kunduz.
Stephen’s JustGiving page is here and he is already 92% of the way to his £7000 target. Please donate and share as widely as possible so that some real good comes out of a bit of fun.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Are Plaid Cymru serious about government?
Why stage plays need a character that screenplays don't
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections?
Random thoughts
A few thoughts on Ann Widdecombe
Paul Walter
expats
Ruth Bright
Russell
David Raw
5 Comments
Might donate tomorrow. I admire his balls (pardon the pun). Well done Stephen!
I’ve donated, but far from admiring his balls, I can plainly see Stephen’s nuts.
Silly stunt, get Paddy Ashdown to eat a marzipan hat.
Medecins sans Frontieres is my favourite charity, the name says it all, but it was unusual among charities in that it had closed its fundraising because they had enough money, although they always needed doctors. Bombing a hospital in Afghanistan has not only caused deaths, but has drawn worldwide attention to the claimed accuracy of either the intelligence information, or to the accuracy of the equipment in the the so-called “surgical strikes”.
Bombing the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade was also a mistake, with diplomatic consequences.
Richard Underhill it’s a bit unfair to call it a stunt. Stephen was challenged to do this live on the Daily Politics and offered 5000 pounds for a charity of his choice. In the circumstances it would have been a bit lame of Stephen to have turned that money down. Paddy and the marzipan hat, however, very lame. …
Phyllis 10th Oct ’15 – 10:12am i have not looked at the video. i will donate to MSF. Ebola may not be over either.