The happy-go-lucky saga of Kelvin MacKenzie’s potential candidacy in the by-election at Haltemprice and Howden cannot be allowed to hide the bleak reality.
Kelvin MacKenzie is a man who has lost an empire, but has yet to find a role.
Friends are worried that he is turning into the media world’s equivalent of Gazza.
The drink-sodden Geordie’s latter years were a steady downward spiral of broken dreams in dreary places: Gansu Tianma, Wolves, Boston United, Kettering Town and Burnley.
All the time, he was being helped through the darker moments by old mates from Spurs like Terry Vanables and Gary Mabbutt.
It’s a similar story with MacKenzie, who never properly recovered from the shock of leaving The Sun.
He was edged out of Sky after a few months in 1994. (The job had been arranged by his mate Rupert.) Then it was on to broken dreams in dreary places: LIVE TV, Talk Radio, Highbury House, Media Square.
Every one a winner? Not quite — despite the quiet behind-the-scenes help from his old mates Rupert and Les. At every port of call, MacKenzie’s self-destructive talent for destroying shareholder value resurfaced to devastating effect.
In the Sun column he used to announce that he wouldn’t be standing against Davis, McKenzie admitted that cashflow is, er, a little bit tight.
Will anyone help this once-proud man to conquer his demons? For his own good, MacKenzie needs to be prevented from ever running a business again. . .
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