Brian Paddick? Hmm, I’m not so sure…

Connecting Devonian strippers with a high profile former London policeman might seem like the sort of idea that could end you up in court if you put it in writing.  But, there is a connection between the fate of the Bideford One and the bandwagon that is building behind making Brian Paddick Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor.

I know almost nothing of the background to the story from last week that three Lib Dem councillors had resigned in response to the election of a stripper as a colleague of theirs.  But a clue seems to lie in the fact that one of the three was the town mayor, another was his brother and the third was the deputy mayor.  While the reaction of most liberals (this one included) appears to have been to side with Myrna Bushell, the three councillors who resigned perhaps did so because they saw their primary loyalty to the institution they were elected to rather than to liberal ideals. 

Politicians ‘going native’ once they get elected to something is not a new problem but it seems to be a greater danger if candidates are selected for their celebrity rather than for a track record of supporting a party’s platform and ideals.  That applies equally to local council candidates selected because they are local personalities with only a passing aquaintance with the Liberal Democrats as it does to candidates for high profile national roles (I know Mayor of London is just another local council job but it brings with it a whole national media circus that gives the role a relevance beyond City Hall).

Brian Paddick has an impressive track record of publicising himself and a single issue.  But what does he actually stand for?  Will he be loyal to the Liberal Democrats when the going gets tough?  If he loses will he still be there tramping around dark streets in the rain once the media spotlight has turned off?  Will he be more interested in promoting a set of issues that are relevant to police officers than in testing each issue against well formed liberal principles?

The daylight assasination of Jean Charles de Menezes, the subsequent failure of anyone in authority to take responsibility and the failure of politicians of all hues to challenge the powerful vested interests in the Met is one of the greatest scandals this country has faced in recent years.  Where will Brian Paddick’s loyalties lie if a similar event occurs?

We shall see, of course.  Celebrity politicians often find that they whither under intense exposure to the public.  Paddick might well convince me.  But if he does become Lib Dem candidate one thing at least will be clear - that the electors of the most diverse and cosmopolitan city in the world will face three middle class, male, middle aged and white candidates from the leading parties (and probably a fourth from the Greens too) - that will help a bundle to promote integration and wider participation (not!)