Does the shadow cabinet need its own nanny? In a speech to the Reform think tank, Andrew Lansley echoes David Cameron's edict that there is "no excuse" for being overweight and that people should get off their sofas.
I don't mean to be unkind, but Andrew Lansley's confession that he has a Body Mass Index of 28 (slightly overweight) is a reminder that there are a few senior Tories who could do with a bit of nannying to shed the pounds.
A picture of Mr Cameron (no t-shirt, white love handles in evidence) on a yacht off the Turkish coast last week showed that he needs to stay off the kebabs now that he's home. Mr Cameron, who has always battled with being a little bit overweight, sometimes plays a bit of post-holiday tennis in September to make him look lean for Conservative conference. He needs to find his racquets, fast.
Boris Johnson (ok, he's not shadow cabinet, but he is now the world's most famous Tory) admitted recently he is trying to lose weight but is finding it difficult, no matter how much cycling and flag-waving he's doing. He should follow his own advice: put less food in your mouth, exercise more.
Eric Pickles - where do I start? He is angling to be Conservative
chairman but would this more high profile role require him to slim down?
In case I'm sounding like a self-righteous fitness freak, I should confess that I'm a veteran of the Westminster lunch circuit too. I know how difficult it is to say no to dessert when the gossip is in full flow, and the Eton Mess at Shepherd's is particularly delicious.
But perhaps these senior Tories should take a word of advice from nanny: no excuses.
Jane I think they probably know there are "no excuses"! Nobody's perfect!!
Posted by: Sally Roberts | Wednesday, 27 August 2008 at 04:23 PM
It's a case of Conservative hypocrisy yet again. Lecturing the 'lower classes' on eating while the 'fat cats' are gorging on Eton Mess and other fattening delicacies. Why should the rotund Mr Pickles be asked to slim. He clearly doesn't want to!
Posted by: Margaret Young | Wednesday, 27 August 2008 at 09:36 PM
It's what is above their necks that matters--too many fat heads, who have over indulged on half-baked ideas and fortune cookies.
Posted by: Diogenes | Thursday, 28 August 2008 at 07:05 AM
The Shadow Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries issued a statement today saying that the Tory Party has always been committed to leanism and is fully focussed on weight loss in the interests of the nation. It noted that the cumulative weight of the Cabinet today was 745 kilograms more than in 1997.
Posted by: john problem | Thursday, 28 August 2008 at 09:10 AM
This is exactly what I was thinking when I read the article yesterday. And Andrew Lansley slightly overweight? For his height (6ft1") a BMI of 28 puts him at about 2 stone overweight! He clearly has no idea what he's talking about.
I've decided to wait until ALL tory politicians are under BMI 25 before I listen to a single thing any of them has to say.
Posted by: Virginia | Thursday, 28 August 2008 at 03:39 PM
Let's go back to the good old day's when all school children had two periods of P.E. per week plus an afternoon of games and were also given the opportunity of after school training and competitive games against other schools on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We used to manage all this and passed GCE's at O and A Level and went on to University. Now too much time is wasted by children trapped in the classroom and spending too much leisure time in front of PC's.
Posted by: Bill Edmunds | Friday, 29 August 2008 at 11:13 AM
shame - Cameron has put on a lot of weight since he became leader of the Conservative party, he needs to get down the gym, bad image for him
Posted by: Den | Tuesday, 16 September 2008 at 09:07 AM