Former Conservative MP and co-host of The Rest Is Politics podcast, Rory Stewart, has revealed his greatest fear is hurting others, and his most deplored trait in himself is being too thin-skinned. The 53-year-old, who served as MP for Penrith and The Border from 2010 and later as international development secretary, shared his thoughts in a wide-ranging interview.
Stewart, who resigned from the Tories in 2019 to stand as an independent in the London mayoral election, described himself as “scrappy, quixotic, curious”. He said his ideal superpower would be indifference to social media abuse, having been regularly called a “traitor, a fraud, a grifter, a weakling, a narcissist, a coward and a child molester” on X.
The author and podcaster, whose latest book is Middleland, said he would bring back the dinosaur Deinocheirus mirificus if he could revive an extinct species. He described the 30ft creature as having a sail on its back, giant claws, a giraffe-like neck and feathers, moving “like Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars”.
Stewart, who lives in London with his wife and two children, admitted his most unappealing habit is grimacing and chewing his finger when thinking. He said his guiltiest pleasure is watching TV in the afternoon, and that living in a ski resort would improve his quality of life.
When asked which living person he most despises, Stewart named Elon Musk, saying he is “profoundly shocked and troubled” by how Musk has used his wealth and influence to foster “damaging and hateful politics”. He also revealed that the US election taught him he had been trapped in wishful thinking, and that the most important lesson life has taught him is that he is not wise.
