Ivan Massow: So Hard

Ivan Massow has just launched a campaign to be selected as Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, yet here he is, sitting in the kitchen of his grand central London home – there is an Aga so large it could melt Greenland, and an island the size of… well, Greenland – telling me he has always found it harder to admit to being a Tory than to being gay.

Clearly he is not alone in this. Across the country there are people who would rather come out as gay than Conservative, and they’re completely heterosexual. “It’s always been a real problem for me because of the stigma it’s carried,” he says, very seriously. But Ivan, it’s not leprosy! “But it’s true! At the beginning of speeches I effectively have to apologise for being Conservative. Harder than coming out as gay was coming out as a Conservative.” ...

Daily Telegraph.

Dear reader, 

Can you help me - I've lost something.

The will to live...

Erm, can anyone tell me what Madame Massow means by this?

“Gay people are naturally quite conservative. Lots of gay people, they want low taxes and they don’t tend to use many state services [!] and they want to buy a house, and you know those things that they both get up to” – at this he puts his finger to his nostril and sniffs – “those things are quite Tory!”

If he means gay men and Tories both take a lot of cocaine, he moves in even more rarified circles than I thought.

PS The multi-millionaire, who is urging London businesses to pay a Living Wage, only pays his own campaign manager the minimum wage. Oops!