Another case of mistaken identity
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 12:46 
A couple of months ago I tweeted that my Google alerts now include articles that mention Simon Clarke MP.
A clear case of mistaken identity by the search engine but it’s not the first time I’ve been confused for the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury who is now Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
A year ago a Conservative MP sent me a text and we messaged back and forth before it dawned on me (if not him) that I wasn’t the Simon Clark(e) he thought I was.
Fast forward to today and I’m writing this in a coffee shop in Westminster a short walk from the Houses of Parliament where I had been invited to a meeting (at his request) with another member of Parliament.
To spare the MP’s blushes I won’t name him but this is what happened.
Last week I got an email from the said MP requesting a meeting.
‘Yes of course,’ I replied. ‘Is there anything in particular you want to talk about?’
‘Levelling up’ was the response.
To put this in context, I’ve written about the Government’s levelling up agenda several times - including here - noting how it’s being hijacked by the tobacco control industry to force smokers in poorer areas to quit.
I even raised the issue at the Forest fringe meeting at the recent Conservative party conference so being invited to talk to an MP about levelling up didn’t strike me as odd at all. Quite the opposite.
Anyway I turned up at the agreed time but as soon as the MP arrived I knew something was up.
First, there was the double take (“What’s he doing here?” he was clearly thinking) followed by the question, “Is the minister with you?”
The minister? Would that be the Rt Hon Simon Clarke, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, by any chance?
Indeed it would. And that, dear reader, was the end of the shortest ‘meeting’ I’ve ever attended.
A three-hour round trip, door-to-door. But I’m not complaining. The weather at least is lovely - sunny and 17 degrees. Perfect.
Reader Comments (3)
You should've said, "Well, now you've got some free time on your hands, can we talk about...?"
That was the problem, he didn’t have any free time. He shot off in search of the real Simon Clarke and that was that! Since then however we have exchanged emails and he has offered to meet again to discuss levelling up ‘and other things’.
Not a bad result then :-)