MPs behaving badly

As the Conservative Party conference kicks off, the party has been dealt a double blow.

1. Mark Reckless, MP for Rochester and Strood has joined Douglas Carswell in defecting to UKIP.

Mr Reckless lived up to his name when he missed a vote on the Budget just months after taking his seat in Parliament. He was so inebriated after a six hour drinking session that he fell to the floor in the Commons. Mr Reckless had to be bundled into a taxi and sent home by follow MPs.

Reckless said afterwards that he would never be caught drinking in the House again. Let us hope so because, if he is successful in becoming a UKIP MP, Nigel Farange will need him to be there for every session of Parliament in a fit state to vote. 

2. Brooks Newmark has resigned his post as Minister for Civil Society following reports that he exposed himself on the internet to an undercover reporter.

The journalist created a fake Twitter account complete with a picture of an attractive young girl. Under the name Sophie Wittams, the reporter sent messages to to the Minister. The relationship between them became steamy when they swapped sexually explicit photographs. Mr Newmark’s picture showed him exposing himself in a pair of paisley pyjamas.

His final blow was to suggest that the two meet up at the conference this week.

Now, we know that politicians are only human and are subject to the same frailties as the rest of us but you would expect the leaders of your country to behave better and at least show some discretion in their private lives. On the one hand you could argue that the Conservative party will be better off without these two (actually Mr Newmark will remain as an MP) but the timing is not good for David Cameron who hopes to launch his campaign to win the next election this week.