Losing MPs: What it’s like to clear your desk while everyone around you celebrates
There is a very moving article in the Guardian about what happens to MPs forced to clear their desks when they have lost, even as their party celebrates jubilantly down the hall. Worth a read.
This bit is about Lee Scott who lost his seat with a surprise 589 seats going to his opponent.
Scott’s voice wobbles a little as he speaks. “It’s been probably one of the worst periods I’ve ever experienced,” he says. “It’s like a bereavement. I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve shed a lot of tears.” As we are speaking, the Conservatives in committee room 14 are banging the desks in scenes that Boris Johnson will later describe as “orgiastic”. Is Scott sticking around to say his goodbyes? “I think I just want to get out and get home,” he says. “I need to lick my wounds. I can’t explain it … I didn’t anticipate losing, but I thought I would be OK if I did. But it’s nothing like I thought it would be.”