Rory Stewart: I was a scumbag in Parliament and I despised myself

Rory Stewart was Theresa May's International Development Secretary. Photo: Viktor Szymanovich/Getty

A former Tory cabinet minister admitted he behaved “creepily” while seeking promotion and said he “ended up despising” himself while in Parliament.

Rory Stewart, who served as international development secretary, said he praised policies “that I didn’t do.” I really don't believe» to try to get a seat at the top table.

In an interview with GB News, he said becoming an MP meant «nobody takes you seriously» and that Westminster had turned him «into some kind of child.»

He added that Parliament is dominated by «a group of people who are very, very bitter» and who «feel that their main mission in life is to try to humiliate others.»

Mr Stewart, elected in 2010, told how he had an offer to become a minister but was withdrawn after he rebelled against the government with one vote.

Early in his Commons career he voted against the plans David Cameron to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected second chamber.

He said George Osborne, the then chancellor, told him in advance that if he did so he would remain a back-up player for at least next five years.

Mr Stewart said he responded by trying to ingratiate himself with the former prime minister and that «that's why I ended up despising myself». «

» If you came to Parliament to try to do something and change things, and spent five years stuck on the back benches watching Liz Truss, who entered Parliament at the same time as you, becomes a cabinet minister because you once rebelled,” he said.

'I would send these texts saying, “Congratulations on your latest policy.” which I didn’t really believe in' Photo: Paul Grover for The Telegraph

“I found myself trying to sit next to David Cameron at lunch and sending these messages saying 'congratulations on your latest policy', which I didn't really believe in.

«And so I began to feel that at the age of 40 I was being turned into a kind of child.»

Mr Stewart eventually rose to become Theresa May's international development secretary, although he only served for three months. in that post before she resigned.

He said that despite being “very critical of colleagues”, looking back on his time in parliament, he realized that “I was as bad, if not worse, than all of them.”

“The Whips treated him like schoolchildren.”

Talking about his experience as a deputy, he added: “The whips treated us all like schoolchildren.”

“It's a very, very strange system. Nothing is what it seems. It's like Alice in Wonderland. And you realize that it's all about sneaking up on the authorities.

“And when I finally sat at the cabinet table, I felt that 10 years of hazing in the schoolyard does not raise proud, independent and confident in themselves the people who make decisions.”

«Even when they're at the Cabinet table, they're still sending creepy messages to the Prime Minister in the hope that they can get a slightly higher position at the Cabinet table.»

In 2019, he supported the Tory leadership on the platform opposing a no-deal Brexit and saying he would refuse to serve under Boris Johnson.

When the former prime minister won, he resigned from the cabinet and then stood down as an MP altogether in the December election.

When the former prime minister won, he resigned from the cabinet and then stood down as an MP altogether at the December election.

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Mr Stewart, who said left the Conservatives because he favors a «centrist, more traditional conservatism», said he doesn't know who he will vote for next year.

He said: «I don't feel comfortable in that direction. where the party is going at the moment, but at the same time I'm not a Labor supporter because I have very traditional views on the world.

“Usually when I get stuck, I'm afraid I'll give in and vote Liberal Democrats.»