Nigel Waterson: One gets the feeling that being a committed Conservative is not appreciated these days

Nigel Waterson chairs a pension fund and is an expert on pensions and ageing issues.  He was MP for Eastbourne from 1992 to 2010

I have been mulling over the implications of the resignation in mid-term of Louise Mensch (nee Bagshawe). She seems to have become a bit of a poster girl for David Cameron’s “A List”. I have to say I have never met Ms Mensch. But as a highly successful author of what is disparagingly termed by some “chick lit” she clearly had a successful career before politics.

And there is the problem.

Someone once said that politics is showbiz for ugly people. A harsh judgment, but not without an element of truth. (By the way, I am not suggesting for a moment that Ms Mensch is ugly, quite the opposite; and the speculation as to whether she had enjoyed the attentions of a plastic surgeon are frankly of no interest to me).

But my Party now finds itself in a truly desperate position. Facing an unnecessary by-election in a highly marginal seat at a difficult time for the Coalition government. Why?