John Banks has provided plenty of headlines over more than three decades in politics.
He wrote another one last night by announcing he will resign as MP for Epsom after being found guilty of filing a false electoral return.
His fall from grace is even gaining him sympathy from his enemies, including media trainer Brian Edwards.
"He's not a man I've ever liked," Dr Edwards says. "I've written some horrendous things about him – he's sued me in fact over some of the things I wrote about him – but at the moment, I think his fall from grace is absolutely horrendous, and to see a career just absolutely destroyed over what really is a technical crime, if you like, I can't fail but feel some sympathy for him."
Columnist David Slack says he's not surprised to see Banks' enemies gloating over his downfall.
"It was clear to me that people were doing that because he said so many corrosive and divisive things for so long and offended so many people, it's human nature that some people are going to take some satisfaction in seeing what they might consider a rebalancing."
But both Dr Edwards and Dr Slack say retired accountant Graham McCready, who filed the prosecution against Banks, has taken a little too much glee in the guilty verdict.
Watch the video for the full chat with Dr Brian Edwards and David Slack.
source: newshub archive
