Widdy Waltzes Off

Anne Widdecome had her last dance on Strictly Come Dancing at the weekend, making it all the way to week 10 and nearly into the Semi Finals. What do you think was the secret of her success? Sadly this wasn't shared with Lembit Opik, who was the second person to be evicted from I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Are there any other politician / reality show match ups you would like to see?

Lembit in the Jungle

Ex-politician and friend of Nonsuch, Lembit Öpik has joined this year's crew for I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. You see his thoughts on this in this ITV video. He will be joined by, amongst others, Linford Christie, Stacey Solomon and "Dr" Gillian McKeith. How do we feel about this? Does he have the potential to be a winner? How will it affect his bid to be Mayor of London? Please let us know.

Lembit Öpik

Lembit Öpik, the former Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire, will be speaking at Nonsuch on Tuesday 5 October at 1.15. Everyone is welcome to attend.

UPDATE: Thanks for everyone who came this afternoon. It was great to see so many people there and asking questions. What did you think of what he had to say? Please post your comments!

Strictly Widdecombe

As you probably know, Anne Widdecombe (who visited Nonsuch two years ago) is a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing this year. We of course wish her all the best, and the BBC is hoping that she can repeat the success of John Sergeant, who lasted 10 weeks despite little obvious dancing talent. A more serious issue is how her appearance continues to blur the line in the public mind between politicians and celebrity. This Guardian article examines this further, also considering the infamous appearance of George Galloway on Celebrity Big Brother, and Lembit Opik's regular TV appearances (Lembit will be speaking at Nonsuch next month). Are you happy with this, or should politicians stick to their day jobs?

PS: This Telegraph article marks the passing of Big Brother, considering its significance and how our attitudes to celebrity and surveillance have changed while its been on.