Following on with the theme of politicians taking part in reality shows, a Conservative MP who lost his seat in the General Election has jokingly asked whether Big Brother is still ‘looking for people’.
Brendan Clarke-Smith was unseated as the MP for Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire by Labour candidate Jo White after she received nearly 6,000 more votes on Thursday (July 4).
Following the defeat, Mr Clarke-Smith jokingly threw his hat into the ring for the next series of the ITV reality show.
He responded to a post on X from The Sun’s political editor which claimed that Big Brother was looking for a ‘big political name’ to take part in this year’s series.
Mr Clarke-Smith replied: ‘Don’t suppose they are still looking for people?’
He jokingly added that the hyphen in his surname makes it a ‘big name’.
The Sun alleges that Big Brother execs have already approached Red Wall Mayor Ben Houchen – but he has turned them down.
Mr Clarke-Smith, who served as an MP from 2019 to earlier this week, was the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party under Rishi Sunak from November 2023 to January 2024.
He also held the position of parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office briefly in 2022 and was the parliamentary under-secretary for the Department for Education for a few months in the same year.
He received 12,708 votes on Thursday, while Ms White – who is also the deputy leader of Bassetlaw Council – received 18,476.
Several high-profile Tories and former members of Mr Sunak’s cabinet lost their seats this week, including former defence secretary Grant Shapps, former prime minister Liz Truss, former House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.
On the Big Brother front, the world-famous social experiment will return to screens this autumn, with applications closing later this month for the second batch of housemates.
In 2023 after five years away, Big Brother was acquired by ITV and staged an epic comeback, with AJ Odudu and Will Best as hosts.
Ultimately, the revival series was won by ex-lawyer Jordan Sangha, 26, who took home £100,000.
Then, in early 2024, Celebrity Big Brother came back with a bang as Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh, and Fern Britton were just three of the major stars ITV splashed out cash on.
Ibiza Weekender’s David Potts slayed his way to victory, though, having reached the final alongside the likes of Nikita Kuzmin and Colson Smith.
Initially, there were fears that bosses would pursue the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! approach by signing controversial political figures.
While this didn’t happen, Kate Middleton’s uncle, Gary Goldsmith, certainly stirred the pot.
Reform leader Nigel Farage famously took part in I’m A Celeb last year, placing third in a result that many viewers have since argued fuelled his political popularity and allowed his Party to gain five seats in this year’s election.
Before that, of course, ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock headed Down Under for a stint in the jungle in a bid to revive his career after being sacked for breaking lockdown rules.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Channel 4 star, 43, raves about having ‘sexy time’ with toyboy footballer, 25
MORE : Strictly Come Dancing legend has ‘not forgiven’ bosses for controversial axing
