Daniel Kawczynski: duplicitous or just a bit dim?

By Tom Guise

There have been rumblings in the press and on the blogs this week about Daniel “Tallest MP in the House” Kawczynski, the Conservative MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, after he advertised for a new intern to replace the one he allegedly fired, blaming her for handing over a constituent’s letter after police raided his Parliamentary office recently.

One might be tempted to regard 6’8″ Kawczynski as a follower in the noble and distinguished line of lofty British funny men, in the vein of a sort of modern Rodney Trotter or political Keith from The Office – he’s certainly acted as a foil for some of the most stinging one-liners in this parliament and on the blogs.

I give you Bob Grant, in The Spectator, 26th July 2008:

“Mr Kawczynski’s first problem is that he is, by general cross-party agreement, the stupidest MP in the present House of Commons, arguably the stupidest ever. His second problem is that, unlike many stupid people, he doesn’t appreciate how stupid he is.”

However, having managed to upset everyone from the Speaker of the House to Melanie Phillips and Simon Hughes, Kawczynski would be dangerous if anyone took him seriously.

Fortunately Kawczynski’s public attacks (unfounded, unsubstantiated or incorrect) on members of the police force and the Post Office have twice brought nothing more than the scorn of the Commons and advice from Michael Martin that he perhaps might like to, ‘give himself a breather’ before disparaging professional people.

For brevity, I have whittled my list of Kawczynski Clangers down to a top five, but please feel free to share any memories you have of the man whose judgement seems to be continuously questioned.

1: Daniel Kawczynski voices accusations that Post Office workers are involved in political corruption.

2: Daniel Kawczynski forced to apologise after making a fool of himself with comments regarding Melanie Phillips.

3: Daniel Kawczynski belittles the struggle of hundreds of thousands of oppressed people throughout history by describing Otis Ferry as a ‘political prisoner.’

4: Daniel Kawczynski accuses the police of underhand tactics after they apparently outwitted him by ‘making an appointment with him and asking him a question.’

5: Daniel Kawczynski blames his intern (always someone else’s fault, Daniel?) for making a fool of himself in handing over letters to police, then forces his staff to sign a confidentiality agreement and is now advertising for a new intern.