186: Jeremy Thorpe 4

by Trog (Wally Fawkes)
in the “Observer” 8 February 1976

Trog imagines the whole situation in the light of the current Winter Olympics where Thorpe is the skier trying to dodge his way through the obstacles.

The fat man (top right) with the suitcase, refers to another scandal which Thorpe had to deal with at the same time. “London and County Securities” had been a company dealing in second mortgages and property holdings. Thorpe had been a managing director, but had resigned just before L&CS had crashed. Thorpe’s associations with L&CS made him appear greedy and possessed of poor judgment to many in the Liberal party. A DTI investigation report had been published on 30 January 1976 (yes, the same day as Scott’s accusations), which acquitted Thorpe of malpractice, but it only served to remind people of Thorpe’s previous character issues.
The man with a white side parting, his hands in his coat and a slightly quizzical mien of suspicion (right middle) is Jo Grimmond, the former leader of the Liberal party, but still a Liberal MP and therefore also a significant figure in the Party.
The man with the dark parting, pixyish face and his arms behind his back (right bottom) is David Steel, another Liberal MP.
The enormous man wearing a bobble hat (left middle) is Cyril Smith, the Liberal Party’s chief whip. Unlike in most cartoons of fat people, this is a fairly accurate representation of Cyril Smith – any attempt at exaggeration would realistically have to span from border to border.
The man with at with a back widow’s peak and his arm folded across his chest (left bottom) is wholly unknown to me, but he certainly doesn’t resemble Norman Scott.
The rather balletic looking man, (left top) with his right hand on his hip, his left hand splayed at a jaunty angle from his outstretched arm, a rather mincing stance, pageboy haircut, and slightly exaggerated mouth doesn’t resemble Norman Scott, but he’s certainly what people expected a gay man to look like. So that’s good enough to do as Norman Scott, a gay former male model.