What should we make of Jared O'Mara?

Last night the chief of staff for the Sheffield Hallam MP resigned in what I'll diplomatically call a rather dramatic fashion.

Gareth Arnold used Jared O'Mara's own twitter feed to make a very public statement, describing the MP as "the most disgustingly morally bankrupt person I have ever had the displeasure of working with”, "a selfish, degenerate prick" and having "a vile, inexcusable contempt for the people who voted you in".

To say there was a huge reaction to this on social media is something of an understatement. Some demanded O'Mara resigns and allows for a by-election. Some questioned Arnold's professionalism in making his differences with his employer public. Others lamented that such a "talentless" person ever won the seat in the first instance. But most were just captivated by the drama of it - yet another bizarre turn in the story of how our democracy has been transformed into a circus.

I have to say I'm a little uncomfortable with these tweets and the voyeuristic reaction to them. Politics, and the lives of those involved in it, should not be allowed to become akin to some Victorian freak show. People with disabilities do not deserve to become ridiculed - while Arnold focused on O'Mara's alleged "moral bankruptcy" (he does not reveal his reasons for this damning judgement) others were happy to add O'Mara's well-known health difficulties into the mix. None of this is helpful. Public shaming is nothing to be proud of.

I cannot leap to O'Mara's defence and pretend he is a good MP for Sheffield Hallam, because he clearly isn't. The fact that the Liberal Democrat PPC, Laura Gordon, is taking up casework for constituents because of the inaction of the incumbent MP underlines this. But we have to ask how we deal with the problem of Mr O'Mara, and I am convinced laughing and sneering at his misfortunes on social media isn't the way to do it.

O'Mara has various physical health problems, including cerebral palsy. He also has a history of mental ill-health. We Liberal Democrats often talk the talk on health issues, and especially on mental health, but we also have to walk the walk. We can ill-afford to join those sneering at O'Mara, adding to his anxiety. Similarly, we cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that O'Mara is, in health terminology, an "adult at risk".

I don't know what Arnold hoped would happen as a result of those tweets, but there was a certain inevitability about the mockery of the MP that followed. Public figures should be open to criticism but this kind of public character assassination, based on a one-sided perspective of events of which we have no available information, is no way to do it.

Like most Liberal Democrats I want to see a Lib Dem MP in Sheffield Hallam once again. I know that Laura Gordon will make a fantastic local MP for the constituency, and of course I want her to beat O'Mara at the next election.

I think we have to be empathetic towards O'Mara, while recognising he simply isn't going to be a good servant to his constituents. He does appear to have some character flaws in addition to the various health issues, but ultimately many of his difficulties are not of his own making. He clearly struggles with the aggressive and adversarial nature of Westminster, as someone with an anxiety problem might. He was also selected with very little thought and even less vetting for a seat he wasn't expected to win. Labour didn't target Hallam in the same way as they did in 2015 (when Oliver Coppard failed to remove Nick Clegg and Labour allowed themselves to be distracted from more winnable seats by their obsession to oust the then Lib Dem leader).

O'Mara simply was never sufficiently prepared or equipped to become Sheffield Hallam's MP. Labour didn't care less about that - rather than concern themselves with the interests of Sheffield Hallam's constituents Labour instead prioritised the triumphalist goading of the former deputy prime minister after his defeat. If you want someone to blame for the tragedy of an inactive MP, look no further than the Labour Party's candidates office.

Labour's lack of rigour in the selection process is responsible for returning an MP who, from the outset, was completely out of his depth. There was a story circulating in 2017 that O'Mara had to go out and buy a suit on the Tuesday before polling day, as it was only then he realised he might have to give an acceptance speech. This stunning lack of preparation from Labour has done a huge dis-service to their party, to the Commons, to the constituency and to O'Mara himself. And, however difficult he found his parliamentary duties before leaving the Labour Party, it has surely become infinitely more difficult since becoming an independent - without the network of support that a party provides. His fraught relationships with several members of staff suggest he's not only a poor manager, but also that he's struggling with a job he simply isn't suited to.

Arnold is right that the constituents of Sheffield Hallam deserve better, and I hope Laura Gordon will see to that. But so too does Jared O'Mara. He deserves to be pitied rather than ridiculed.