What with partygate and Ukraine, it was easy to miss some of the movements in February’s mini-reshuffle. Among them was the bovine Mark Spencer being shuffled out of the Whips’ Office into a safer berth as Leader of the Commons, following accusations of Islamophobia. His replacement, Chris Heaton-Harris, is a man largely unknown outside SW1 but who, within the Westminster village, has developed something of a cult following. For Heaton-Harris has a weakness: the man can’t resist a truly awful dad joke.
Since 2010, the Daventry MP has endeared himself by tweeting dozens of puns, quips and gags, earning himself a reputation as the human equivalent of a Penguin chocolate bar wrapper. In appointing Heaton-Harris to the Whips’ Office, it seems that Boris Johnson was sending a message: the little black book is out, the joke book is in. Sadly, the ardent Brexiteer has chosen to suspend his usual witticisms in recent months: perhaps understandable in light of everything going on in Ukraine.
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