Esther McVey’s former agent has stuck the knife in following her feud with Lorraine Kelly, claiming she was never liked when she worked in TV.
The former Conservative leadership candidate, who was a TV presenter during the ’90s before switching to politics, also lacks “warmth” and has “no empathy”, according to Jon Roseman.
Jon, who represented McVey during her telly career, penned an article for the Daily Mail following her live run-in with former GMTV colleague Lorraine earlier in the week.
He claimed McVey was disliked after she was chosen to cover Fiona Phillips’ maternity leave on GMTV, as the role was expected to go to regular host Penny Smith.
“She was widely perceived as the girl who took someone else’s job from under their nose,” he wrote. “Worse than that, she exuded the same lack of warmth that, to me, has characterised her political career.
“Esther had no empathy.”
Jon also addressed McVey’s stance against children being taught about LGBTQ+ relationships and issues at school.
He said that her views had made her a “pariah” in the industry she used to work in.
“Homophobia is never tolerated in the entertainment business,” he said. “A significant number of television celebrities are gay or lesbian, as are some of the most important interviewees.
“By voting against gay marriage, McVey has made herself a pariah among her old colleagues. Though it must be said: they didn’t really like her to start with.”
HuffPost UK has contacted Esther McVey for comment.
Jon’s remarks echoed those made by Lorraine earlier this week when she wrote a column about her clash with McVey, which happened during Monday’s Good Morning Britain.
“My terse reaction had nothing to do with Esther McVey the TV presenter and everything to do with Miss McVey the politician,” she wrote in The Sun, adding that there’s no “TV feud”.
“I abhor her stance on LGBT rights,” Lorraine said. “And like so many of her colleagues from all sides of parliament, she stands an example of everything that is wrong with our toxic political landscape.”
Fiona Phillips waded into the row on Wednesday too – sticking up for ITV presenter Lorraine.
In her Daily Mirror column, she called McVey a liar after the politician claimed her feud with Lorraine dated back to when she was promoted over her while working at GMTV.
“She [McVey] didn’t have a job at GMTV until she covered my three month maternity in 1999,” Fiona wrote.
“How could she have been ‘promoted’, then, from a job she’d never held in the first place? Hmmmm.”