Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick makes a fool of herself on the BBC’s ‘Big Question’ as it is revealed that the MP who managed to lose the safe seat of Kensington is ludicrously seeking a comeback
Yesterday morning, Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick nodded her head on the BBC’s The Big Questions as another member of the audience suggested it ridiculous that a family living in a poky flat in Beckenham worth £300,000 can be paying the same in council tax as a family living in Kensington in a £25 million mansion.
“Please Victoria, stop interrupting, come on, let’s have someone else,” responded the programme’s host Nicky Campbell as this redheaded mother of the chief technology officer for Vote Leave tried to interject. “I’m a Londoner” later shouted the former Conservative MP – whom lost a seat that anyone would agree a “pig in a blue rosette should have won” – whilst Made in Chelsea’s Andy Jordan, in a bizarre attempt to be meritocratic, added: “Made in Chelsea should be Made for Everybody. I like that.”
This delusional cocktail party loving ex-MP, it should be added, herself lives in Phillimore Gardens, W8 – one of Britain’s most expensive streets and one where houses regularly sell for upwards of £35 million – and is the very same woman who did little to nothing for the homeless whilst in office. Instead, Borwick mostly asked questions during her time at Westminster in support of the antiques trade in general and the ivory business in particular. She now wants to return.
In spite of Borwick declaring: “I’m not a politician anymore” on The Big Questions, her very own website tells a very different story. Its homepage begins with the announcement: “I have made no secret of the fact that I would like to be re-elected as your Member of Parliament for Kensington and represent my fellow residents in Parliament.” No doubt, soon, ‘Call Me Victoria’ will also be picking up the phones. God help the Conservative Party and God help Kensington.
#bbctbq #lazyborwick
Watch the programme by clicking here (time limited for 29 days).
Lady Borwick on: “Should drugs be treated like alcohol?”
Nicky Campbell: “I know you’re very against drugs, but, of course, George Osborne, David Cameron, Boris Johnson – It didn’t do them any harm did it?”
Lady Borwick: “I am sorry I cannot think of a reason why legalising drugs would be… [Interuption from an audience member] Hang on, I’m not in politics any more… The important point is legalising drugs is not going to make us as a nation healthier.”
Nicky Campbell: “Did you have a drink over Christmas?”
Lady Borwick: “Yes, but not very much.”
Nicky Campbell: “But, then, are you a hypocrite?”
Lady Borwick: “We’re just facing Dry January. We’re telling people they shouldn’t be drinking in January… Why do we want encourage people to get addicted [to drugs]? The most important point is that the drug dealers are not going to go away, they’re not going to give up and tend their own gardens I’m sorry to say. But if you legalise pushing outside our schools… They’ll find some other way of engaging in criminal activity.”
Lady Borwick on: “Is London only for the rich?” and the Grenfell Tower tragedy and gangs
Nicky Campbell: “Well Victoria, you were the MP for [Kensington] and it is a very divided city, London. Most people would agree with that.”
Lady Borwick: “Just a touch. Just a touch. I will touch on Grenfell because you’ve raised that.”
Nicky Campbell: “Can I read out one of your emails because it does concentrate minds on what the problem is.”
Lady Borwick: “I was just going to quickly say, having been to see Grenfell because while… I went to see Grenfell several times. I helped them form a residents’ association because they had some very, very valid concerns. And I of course, I passed on all those concerns to the police. This is no secret. This has been in the Guardian. This has been in the media. But the problem is this is a tragedy and today is all about: ‘Is London too expensive?’ but I think all of us in Kensington, everyone in Kensington and Chelsea, everyone in London appreciates what a tragedy this is and how…”
Nicky Campbell: “But on the subject of the two nations that we are living in in London. Those of us who do and these remarks come from an email [from Lady Borwick]. It’s very interesting because you say: ‘The local community was difficult to help in the aftermath of the disaster because rather like gangs they don’t go into another community.”
Lady Borwick: “I was explaining… I was explaining in a four page email that we need to reach out to them. You cannot expect people to come to you.”
Nicky Campbell: “Why did you say: ‘Like gangs’?”
Lady Borwick: “It’s like communities, groups. It’s just terminology, of you know, saying you’ve got to reach out to people. You’ve not got to expect in life that people are going to come to you. We shouldn’t be judging people. We should be here reaching out. And that’s why when I saw the Grenfell people, I went to see them.”
Audience member: “That’s quite a pejorative term…”
Lady Borwick: “OK, as a group, the people we had to deal with…”
Anna Minton (journalist and academic): “There was an absolute breakdown of relations with the community and local government over Grenfell.”
Lady Borwick: “I agree with that and it’s an absolute tragedy and we must make sure that, that that never, ever happens again… These people had genuine concerns and I went to see them about a whole range of things.”
Alex Proud (restaurateur and gallery owner): “The politicians weren’t interested and aren’t interested. You destroyed the city we live in.”
Lady Borwick: “I’m sorry. I am really sorry. I went and listened to various people and they had genuine, genuine concerns. They weren’t just about those things.”
Nicky Campbell: “Victoria, Victoria… Please… Moving on from Grenfell…”
Lady Borwick: “I don’t want people thinking I didn’t have genuine concerns.”
Lady Borwick on empty housing in London:
Lady Borwick (in response to an audience member saying “housing shouldn’t be about all the investment units in the golden postcodes of Knightsbridge and Kensington”): “We’ve got to have homes that people actually want to live in.”
Nicky Campbell: “Please, Victoria, come on. Let’s have someone else. We’ve got speak to someone else now.”
Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes
Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes
Twitter: @SteepleTimes
