Henley By-Election: More Lib-Con Hospital Hoaxery?

John Leech MP arguably set new records for leaflet production, for election expenses return inexactitude, and outright hospital hoax fibbery in his utter-bollocks-and-bravado 2005 campaign. He has subsequently been
taking the piss persistently on parliamentary rules on tax payer funded leaflets.

The accounting for his supposedly "donated" councillor expenses has not even been produced. More on which anon. And he has an amazingly productive print workshop nestled in the backroom at his parliamentary offices. Though he maintains a feeble cover story that it has nothing to do with him.

Leech did boldly nay ludicrously go to the Ealing Southall by-election as a part-time MP and have the front to keep a straight face while he maintained that their man would be a full-timer.

But surely not even John Leech could be expected to roll into a strange constituency more than 250 miles from his usual home address in Plymouth and start berating a Tory, who was on the local council throughout, for not really supporting a campaign against a local hospital closure?

The whiter than white Tories are very distressed by all this, though it scarcely shows on their candidate's web page, they are even threatening legals that they will not go through with. And also calling up a 48 hour 'phone canvassing rebuttal over the weekend - to these and indeed other "smears" on their candidate. For example about cosiness with property developers. But their man repeatedly over-states his part in the campaign. Here, here, and here for example.


But one thing in particular is absolutely certain. Whatever he may say on his blog the Lib Dem candidate Stephen Kearney, the very fluent "charity work" bullshitter, had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the campaign to save this hospital. He had probably never heard of it until he packed his carpet bag and applied to usurp the Lib Dems proposed General Election candidate Susan Cooper, just as the Tory usurped hot favourite Ann Ducker.

What does "support" mean anyway? Every fan of Lib Dem leaflet weaselish nationwide will know that sinking feeling when a Lib Dem appears in a hurried photo opportunity outside a Post Office, or wearing a laughably too small cycle helmet but no bike moaning at a new cycle lane, or pointing mock-horrified at some some fallen autumn leaves; and then claims to be "spearheading the campaign", "getting things done", or "scraping the barrel" on the matter.


Meanwhile the frequently intoxicated Rochdale Lib Dem Choirboy turned Enforcer David Hennigan has been sighted staggering around in the Henley area, or "kicking the local campaign into shape" as he is telling his increasingly astonished Rochdale compadres in increasingly excited postcards from the edge. His long suffering wife can hardly ever see him*. Then again that may be for the best ... absence makes the heart grow fonder.

POSTSCRIPT: Someone has gone to quite a lot of trouble to collate part of Cyril Smith's back story (backside story?) in comments HERE. Stuff has been removed here to prevent Sir Cyril's greatest fan cracking up.

UPDATE Tuesday 16:46: I'm hearing from his own keyboard that although Mr Hennigan no doubt went on a dirty tactics weekend in Henley just now, he did promise "Heywood Parish Priest" that he would (a) take his wife with him and (b) visit a certain Parish for Sunday Mass. Any corroboration that he delivered on either solemn vow appreciated.

And I can only point helplessly to Hennigan's "puff" for his mentor at Lib Dem Voice. Stuff has been removed here too.