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Top 5 Political Self-Immolations of All Time
# 5 — Mellor Messed Up — 1992
David Mellor resignation after being outed for both his affair with Antonia de Sancha and getting a free holiday from a daughter of a PLO official
# 4 — Rinkagate 1974
Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was arrested and tried for allegedly paying a hitman to murder his lover, model Norman Scott, while walking his dog on Exmoor; the hitman only shot the dog, Rinka.
# 3 “Ma, where’s my Pa? — 1884
US Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland (AKA “Grover the Good”) fathered a child out of wedlock. After acknowledging paternity, Cleveland sent his son to an orphanage and had his mistress committed to a mental institution. the question “Ma, ma, where’s my pa?” became the Republicans’ taunting battle cry.
# 2 Stonehouse goes walkabout — 1974
John Stonehouse was a Labour cabinet minister who fell into financial trouble and came under investigation by the Department of Trade and Industry. Rather than face prosecution, he dumped his clothes on a beach in Miami, Florida to leave the impression that he’d drowned. Stonehouse and his secretary fled to Australia but only lasted a month before being discovered and deported to England where Stonehouse stood trial in 1976 for fraud, theft and forgery.
# 1 — Swift Justice
Yesterday, 15th September 2024, the Preening satsuma Donald Trump decided to bite Taylor Swift after she backed Kamala Harris. To misquote The Libertines, Swifties bit back a lot f*****g harder…
