Fife’s loss now that Jacob is nannying Boris

Madam, – I read the other day about Jacob Rees Mogg’s campaign to be elected MP for Central Fife in 1997 and couldn’t believe he was unsuccessful!

I appreciate he was a young man then, so young he had to be chaperoned by his nanny round the streets of Coaltown of Balgonie in his Bentley, but it is said he charmed the local populace with his exquisite manners, his olde world charm, and his remarkable compassion.

As well as his high breeding, wealth and massive brain, young Jacob also had the benefit of his exemplary education at Eton and Oxford, a privilege granted to oh so few, which, along with his high moral character, was surely enough to qualify him for the highest offices in the land, never mind the opportunity to transform the derelict pits and bings of post industrial Fife.

But unfortunately the good people of Central Fife did not recognise the gift horse in their midst, and instead voted for some local cove, long forgotten, who went on to become first minister of Scotland.

The redundant miners and industrial workers, and their progeny, could now be bankers and financiers, hedge fund managers even.

The streets of Kennoway could be overshadowed by towering office blocks, the wide open spaces of Glenrothes populated by glittering mansions, the streets of Methil choked by Porsches and Jags and the Levenmouth Rail Link a high speed reality.

But the good people of Central Fife are left to rue their missed opportunity, and now JRM is a national hero, nannying our glorious but immature Prime Minister Johnson, as he seeks to emulate the spectacularly successful redevelopment of British industry and life, brought about by the much lamented government of his predecessor Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

Les Mackay. 5 Carmichael Gardens, Dundee.