The Loop
Politician makes up an excuse to go play golf instead of campaigning, everybody finds out
Add Glyn Davis to the list of people who have taken heat for playing golf.
Davis is a conservative Member of Parliament who represents a section of northeastern Wales called Montgomeryshire.
In October, a man named Mark Reckless defected from his (and Davis') party and in doing so triggered a special-election for his seat in Kent. To help their chances of defeating Reckless, Conservative politicians -- Davis included -- have been told to visit the area to help swing the tide in his party's favor.
Naturally, Davis quickly came under a lot of fire from his supporters, so he felt obligated to respond. On Monday, Davis told the BBC that the whole thing was a "silly story", and that his actions were defendable because he always uses a golf cart when he plays.
"I wouldn't have thought they'd want me to go down there and stand on the side of the street and not be able to walk round," he said. "I can only play golf with a buggy and I tend to do it [canvassing] on the telephone."