Michael Fabricant: Unfortunate name, unfortunate hair.
WWP is astounded. The minute I saw that blonde head poke out over Ken Clarke's shoulder in PMQs, I knew that this post had already written itself. For in a world of mundane suits and receding hairlines, a wig-like hairstyle excites all that is politically fashionable in me, even though the photo above would feature heavily in my definition of the antithesis of fashion.
Michael Fabricant is the conservative MP for Lichfield in Staffordshire. Until now he has generally sat quiet in a variety of semi-fun roles in the Commons (culture, media and sport select committee; BBC drama political adviser), yet this week has seen him raise his Ken-doll head above the Ukip parapet and call for an alignment of the two parties. Particularly, he is calling for a weird, electoral barter, whereby if the government calls for a referendum over the EU, Ukip will not stand for some seats at the next election. Hence the Tories will scrape the racists (sorry, EU-skeptics) from the bottom of the constiuency pan and, voila, win a majority in parliament. Well, that's the plan. And one that looks increasingly unlikely to work due to: i) Nigel Farage's sibling rivalry/hatred of Cameron, ii) Miliband and Labour's biblical resurrection in the opinion poll stakes and iii) Fabricant's slur that branded Ukip and some members of his own party as 'closet racists.'
When WWP started researching the post, I was very sure that it would be entitled 'Michael Fabricunt' and proceed to be a predictably exasperated rant over out-of-touch Tory boys that can't come to terms with male pattern baldness. However after following him on Twitter, I have formed a soft spot in my heart for Michael. He's a 62 year old politician who knows how to utilise social media for a start, and tweets about the price of a pint, John Lewis adverts and inside Tory jokes. It is unlikely that this will ever convince anyone to vote for him. But whilst he has a seat it's refreshing to see an MP who has a sense of humour and an idiosyncratic dress sense.
