Tiverton and Honiton - Richard Foord MP - the next Paddy Ashdown?

New British Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Foord chose to mention his military career in his victory speech attack on Boris Johnson early on Friday morning. But what exactly was that career and would relevance does it have to his new job?

To the victor the spoils
Photo © Mark Passmore Photography on Twitter

The 24 hour “very well done” grace period has completed so it is now time to get under the skin of the latest by-election victory for the LibDems. As the new MP is an ex army officer I held off saying anything on Saturday out of respect for Armed Forces Day, but I have to say the detail of Richard’s military career is something of an enigma. What experience does he have that gives him the right to immediately criticise our beloved Boris?

I assume we are supposed to think Liberal Democrat, plus military man and we’ve got a reincarnation of the greatest LibDem of them all, Paddy Ashdown 👊

But have we? In his criticism of Boris, Richard spoke about leadership, but other people's, so how much “leading” has he actually done? In a recent interview he implied vaguely his role was “educational” but also added that he was attached to the "Desert Rats". (The fact that the interviewer didn't know what he meant didn't help).

He has the campaign medals so was clearly in theatre but doing what exactly? I was left thinking that he is either the most top secret officer the British Army has ever produced or a high ranking Unconscious Bias Instructor?

The reality must lie somewhere in between and I think we deserve to know. I became interested because with my management of people hat on I wanted to know how a leader, developed under command and control, adapted to the world of consensus management and how that might work in parliament - I did ask him via social media but never got a reply.

Tactical voting - choosing the least worst option

Why is this important? Well, while we all must have the greatest respect for our veterans, care must be taken that in a campaign fought on the grounds of ethics in public life, public deception is not used as a weapon. Nothing can be taken for granted even when dealing with such an obvious officer and a gentleman.

Let's not be fooled, Richard's victory must feel personally pretty hollow. I'm not going to complain about tactical voting, all's fair in love and politics, but the reality is the Lib Dem's managed to stir up such anti-Boris sentiment in Devon that the Lib Dem’s could have put forward a reincarnation of Cyril Smith and he would have won.

When you only vote based on what you don't want, you run the risk of voting in something that is ultimately just as undesirable. 

Author - David Robinson  

David spent approaching 50 years in Her Majesty's Electricity Supply Industry before retiring

He was part of the highly successful design team on the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Project before spending 25 years producing safety cases to keep our aging AGR fleet generating for the good of the nation

He is responsible for the Harveywetdog YouTube Channel which he maintains as an outlet for his creative talents

David is currently recovering from blood cancer but refuses to be a victim

All views are his own but might be influenced by the drugs he's currently having to take