Good Old Boy #35

I have just been reading Frank Cook MP's biography on his website. It is much more comprehensive than the record which most MPs make publicly available. I'd only hitherto previously been aware of his (generally admirably lefty) voting record.

To get the full benefit, you do have to read it for yourself, but make sure not to miss out on:

*The record of the debate in the General Management Committee of his decision to buy his council house.

*His campaign against the law on handguns introduced after Dunblane.

*Criticism for his vote against capping MP's pay.

*His 'controversial' suggestion that the best way of ending Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons programme would be through a tactical nuclear strike.

*His disappointment that party activists fail to understand the time commitment involved in being a member of the Speaker's Panel and other committee membership.

*His anger at criticism from the Daily Mail for claiming expenses to landscape his garden in his home in London.

*The Amicus union stabbing him in the back and telling him that he should stand down, coming just after 'Gardengate'.

*The breakdown of his relationship with his CLP, with the result that there was certainly no question of an all-constituency leaflet delivery in the 2005 election.

Frank Cook is currently facing a selection battle after losing his trigger ballot.