Tallest MP in the UK – Daniel Kawczynski

What with the general election just passed, I thought it would be more appropriate than ever to tell you about the UK’s tallest MP. His name is Daniel Kawczynski and he is a Conservative for Shrewsbury and Atcham. He seems to be most interested in energy matters, but generally he seems to be a hard-working constituency MP.

At 6 foot 8 1/2 inches, he is well above the national average – but not quite in the stratosphere of the really tall. It’s surprising that we don’t see more tall politicians. You would think that height favours confidence, public speaking, and generally a greater presence, yet the last two prime ministers have been of very modest height. France’s Nicolas Sarkozy is significantly shorter than most on the world stage, yet makes up for it in bullish personality.

This is, perhaps, an answer to my own question. It doesn’t seem to be size or height that can be predetermine someone to be a successful politician, there must be a base-level of ruthlessness and game-playing which is probably completely irrelevant to height. If anything, I’ve found very tall people to be ‘gentle giants’ so to speak, softly-spoken and mildly-mannered. The cut-throat world of politics seems to trim these people away without a second glance.

With a little courage and opportunism, Mr. Kawczynski could become a real representative of the tall community. He could take the case of tall-people to airlines, train companies, even car manufacturers. It’s highly unlikely that he goes through life without experiencing the pitfalls and pains of being an exceedingly tall man. The trouble is that, I’m afraid, politics does not favour people who campaign individually on small projects (except if they are local constituency projects). They are small-players with minor influence, so politicians need to take interest in big issues (such as energy) to win friends and influence people.

It’s great to see tall men like Mr. Kawczynski holding public office, and hopefully we’ll see more in the future. I’d really like to see someone at least try to tackle some of the issues, like airlines who charge more for emergency seats or house-builders who build door-frames just 6 feet high. I’m afraid I might just be waiting a little while.

You can see Daniel Kawczynski’s website here.