5 of the worst British political scandals

The clouds are forming over Westminster. This time though, the storm could rock our political system to its core and the damage could be irreparable. Ruthless politicians fear one thing, scandal, whether it’s sex, drugs or rock and roll, we’ve dipped our rod in to the sewer.

Cash for Peerages, , Yes gentlemen, some will stoop that low. The 1925 Honours (Prevention of Abuses Act) came in the wake of the sale of peerages by the Liberal Prime Minister, Lloyd George. Although there was never any public enquiry, the act sought to quietly rap the former No10 tenant knuckles over the distribution of honours to those who’d cough up the cash. Although brushed under the carpet, the incident caused severe damage to Lloyd Georges long term reputation.

The Profumo Affair, , Cheating on your wife is never a good idea especially, when you’re the Secretary of State for War and the woman you’re sleeping with happens to be also on more than friendly terms with the Russian Naval Attache. The revelations in March 1963 about Stephen Ward’s high-end “escort ring” and his subsequent suicide, nearly brought down Harold MacMillan’s government and shook conservative Britain to it’s core. With its potent combination of sex, treachery and death Ward’s downfall led to one of the most explosive scandals in British political history.

The Thorpe Affair, , In the early 1960s, Jeremy Thorpe, a married politician and incumbent leader of the Liberal Party was put on trial for conspiracy to murder his former male lover. The allegations by Norman Scott, Jeremy Thorpe’s former lover that his dog had been killed in a bungled assassination attempt organised by Thorpe were enough to cost him the leadership of his party, his seat in Parliament and his reputation. Exiled to the fringes of politics, Thorpe never again took any part in mainstream politics.

The Aitken Affair, , Back in April 1995, Jonathan Aitken, an Eton educated Conservative cabinet minister swore to use the ‘sword of truth’ against allegations made against him by The Guardian over his involvement with a group of Saudi arms dealers. However, in the subsequent libel case, it was revealed that Aitken had lied persistently under oath and even asked his wife and children to do the same. His subsequent conviction for perjury bankrupted him, destroyed his political career and brought a dark cloud over Westminster for years to come.

MP’s expenses, , In May 2009, Parliament’s reputation reached an all-time low after The Daily Telegraph published the now infamous ‘expenses expose’. Over 80% of voters felt MPs that had misused taxpayer’s money should resign and when election time came in 2012, 40% of MPs did, standing down from their seats with their heads bowed. As the revelations continued, it emerged that petty fraud and greedy claims were only the tip of the iceberg and that, in some cases, MPs had almost doubled their salary. At its most ridiculous the list of expenses read like a Harrod’s catalogue, with claims on duck houses and the renovation of Tudor cottages, but more serious allegations of serial fraud soon followed. The subsequent fallout from the scandal led to 8 criminal convictions and damaged the reputation of Parliament irreparably.

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