Rory Stewart, a former Conservative Party leadership candidate, has said he would like to become prime minister. Photo: Lorne Thomson/Getty Images Europe
MPs have attempted suicide due to the «almost precarious» nature of the job, a former Conservative minister has said.
Rory Stewart, the former international development secretary, called it a «miracle.» that some of his former colleagues did not commit suicide and others had «complete breakdowns in public.»
Speaking ahead of the publication of his new memoir, Politics on the Edge, Stewart also said he «despised» «creepy» MP he became before leaving the House of Commons in 2019.
«I don't want to talk about the details because it's deeply personal to people, but yes, colleagues tried to commit suicide» , he told GB News.
“These are people I knew. And in very serious ways — I mean they almost committed suicide. It's a miracle they're alive.
“There have been other colleagues who have had complete breakdowns in the most humiliating, personal and embarrassing way, in public.”
He continued: “I think this is because the gap between how MPs are encouraged to present themselves to the public and who they actually are is almost unsustainable.
“It's crazy because you pretend to be all-knowing, perfect, dynamic, confident. You pretend that you have all the answers and that “I know where we are going.”
“The truth is that there are 70 million people in this country and the politicians don’t know where we are going». I really don't know what's going on. And yet we pretend to the public that we are.”
“I ended up despising myself.”
When asked how he felt when he was an MP, he replied: “I ended up despising myself. I found myself trying to sit next to David Cameron at lunch and sending messages saying, “Congratulations on your latest policy,” which I didn’t really believe in.
< p>“And so I started to feel that at 40 I was being turned into some kind of child.
“I was the acting governor of an Iraqi province of three million people, a Harvard professor, and ran a charity in Afghanistan.
“I thought I was a pretty respectable person. . And I realized that as soon as I became a deputy, all this disappeared. Nobody takes you seriously anymore.”
But the former Conservative Party leadership candidate said he would like to become prime minister.
When asked if he would like to be in a leadership position now, he replied: “Yes, I would. I think it would be quite a wild ride. It hasn't been easy — Brexit, Covid — but I felt we had a real opportunity in 2019 to try to bring the country together even more. I felt that it was terribly divided and fragmented.»
He said he split with the Conservative Party because «I come from a tradition of much more centrist, more traditional conservatism.»
“I also don't feel comfortable with the direction the party is heading at the moment,” Mr Stewart added.
But he said he was not Labor supporter and believes both main political parties are «essentially old, dead and broken».
He said that while there are «some wonderful people» in Parliament, there is also a group of people who are very, very bitter — unfortunately mostly men — who feel left out and believe their main mission in life is to try to humiliate other people.»
Mr Stewart went on to tell Sky News it was a «miracle» that Britain was able to continue to exist thanks to the political system.
He said: «The truth is that you can't run a fish and chip shop the way the British government runs it. This is crazy.
“And I tried to do my job well… It's not that politicians are necessarily incompetent or stupid. It's crazy about these works. It can't make sense to appoint someone to such an important job for just a few months.»
He added: «We need governments that say you have to stay in (the post) for at least two years. in these positions, unless you have a terrible scandal.
«You need to pay attention to the American system»
“And we need to look at the American system, where we have real professionals as cabinet ministers… they have a very limited gene pool, legislators — you remove about 300 legislators by putting them in these positions.
«And look, I'm clearly attacking myself in 'Politics on the Edge' because I'm trying to show how ignorant I was and what a shame it is that someone like me gets this job.»
Mr Stewart continued: «I was an idealist, very, very proud to be in parliament, thinking: 'I'm going to change things, I'm going to change the world.' And I found that the system and the structure simply didn't work.
“The whips, the party system, these ministerial promotions, the culture of this place were fundamentally unserious.
” It's a miracle that Britain manages to continue on the same path as our policy.”
When asked about the mental health of MPs, a House of Commons spokesman said: “The Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service (PHWS) is available to members, colleagues, staff of any House of Representatives and the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS).
“PHWS provides support across a wide range of physical and mental health and wellbeing issues, and the team includes specialists in occupational health and wellbeing.
“There is a strong focus on personalized care that offers appropriate support when the person needs it most.”
“PHWS actively promotes health and wellbeing among Estate MPs by offering education and training opportunities to individuals and teams.” .
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