Anna Soubry replaced by Jane Ellison as public health minister
Monday, October 7, 2013 at 22:00 Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Anna Soubry's extraordinary stint as public health minister will never be forgotten by those who witnessed her behaviour.
If I'm honest, I still have a sneaky admiration for her.
I like feisty politicians and Soubry is certainly that. If she loses her seat at the next election (it's a marginal, I believe) I'm sure she'll go down fighting with all guns blazing.
Moving her to the Ministry of Defence where she's in charge of the army is quite appropriate, really.
I did however lose patience with her towards the end.
Her performance in front of the European Scrutiny Committee was poor. She didn't seem to be on top of her brief.
The proximity of senior civil servant Andrew Black, sitting next to her, also suggested someone who was having her strings pulled.
The independent image she had cultivated suddenly seemed rather hollow.
The final straw was her recent declaration that she started smoking in her teens because of the "glamorous" packaging.
Really? I don't like calling anyone a liar so let's just say it didn't ring true.
Anyway, here are a couple of tweets that were posted this afternoon. They speak for themselves.
Nice to see that Sarah Wollaston has a sense of humour. As it happens I quite like her too!
Reader Comments (2)
FYI Simon: most of us despise both of them.
Oh, tut, tut, Simon! You’re admitting, on a public forum that you actually like (good Lord, you actually used the “r” word – totally inappropriate in connection with a politician!) these two shrieking, arrogant busybodies?? Have you not yet realised that politicians, of all shades, at all levels and no matter how seemingly inconspicuous and harmless they may seem when met socially, are at heart all evil, self-serving, spineless, scum akin to the kind of stuff we used to tread on as children on our way home from school, in the days before people learned to pick up after their dogs, and then walk all through the house, much to our mothers’ fury! Don’t be fooled by an artificially-induced smile or a few reasonable-sounding words or a blustery show of “independent thought” – they’re all the same, deep down inside.
Whether current or ex-politicians, I loathe them all equally and without any reservations. I’m delighted that Soubry has been given the boot, and not before time, arrogant little madam. It’s just a shame that (a) she’s been given another job and (b) she’s had to be replaced by another wretched (spit!) politician in her stead who will almost certainly be just as ghastly, just as arrogant and just as wilfully dismissive of the wants, needs and wishes of the public they are supposed to serve ...