Iain Dale has been reminded of the time he got into an embarrassing scuffle with a pensioner as he prepares to launch a bid to become the Tory MP for Tunbridge Wells.
Dale announced he is leaving LBC to stand as a candidate in the General Election this week, with Sky News reporting that he will be bidding to contest the Tory safe seat in Kent.
It’s not the first time Dale has tried to enter Westminster, having previously run in 2005 where he lost in Norfolk North.
Announcing his decision live on LBC on Tuesday night, Dale said: “I am putting my hat in the ring again to be a candidate at the General Election.
“Whatever the result, I feel I can play a role in restoring trust and honesty in politics. There are no guarantees I will be selected, let alone elected, but I know that I would forever kick myself if I didn’t at least have a go.”
Reminders of the moment Dale got into a scuffle with a pensioner have resurfaced on social media following the announcement.
The scrap, which Dale described as “frankly idiotic” and a result of his “absurd bravado” in the aftermath, occurred as the Labour Party descended on Brighton for its annual conference in 2013.
Dale fought with veteran protester Stuart Holmes on the seafront after trying to stop any disruption to TV interviews being given by his client Damian McBride.
He spotted the pensioner nearby as Gordon Brown’s ex-spin doctor spoke to ITV about his controversial memoir and rushed over to haul him away.
The pair ended up tussling on the ground as Mr Holmes’ dog barked around them, causing a stir outside the Labour Party conference venue close by.
Hours later, Dale insisted he did not regret the encounter, joking that he should not have had Weetabix for breakfast and calling Mr Holmes an “idiot”.
But in the following days he struck a far more sombre tone as he admitted Holmes was a “passionate campaigner” and had been “perfectly entitled” to be there.
“It was totally out of character for me to react to him in the way that I did,” he said.
“I also want to apologise for the blogpost I wrote after the incident. It was full of absurd bravado and in the heat of the moment, I behaved in a frankly idiotic way.
“I have embarrassed not only myself but my family and my work colleagues and I apologise to them.”
The statement added: “Since the events of Tuesday, I have gone through what happened over and over again in my mind. Whatever I felt at the time, nothing can justify what I did.”
Dale, from Pembury in Kent, even suggested some “will never forgive me for what I did and I understand that”.
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