The Lib Dem MP Who Took Ex-Offenders To Work In Trump's Embassy

Lib Dem rising star Josh Babarinde talks to Harriet Symonds about marching against the Coalition, his friendship with Labour’s prisons minister and taking ex-offenders into the US embassy. Photography by Tom Pilston

Josh Babarinde has two answers to the question of why he joined the Liberal Democrats – one funny, one punchy. It’s a mix that could someday make him leader. 

The funny one is that he’s only here for the beer. Or more precisely he’s only a Lib Dem because of a beer mat. “They had a really awesome beer mat,” Babarinde jokes. “I asked for one and they said, ‘You can’t have a beer mat unless you join’. My mate paid for me to join so I could get the beer mat, and that’s why I ended up in the party.”  Babarinde, now 31, was just 17 at the time and studying for his A-levels. 

My mate paid for me to join so I could get the beer mat, and that’s why I ended up in the party

The serious answer for why he joined the Lib Dems comes across in a story of when then-leader Nick Clegg visited Eastbourne in 2009 to help local candidate Stephen Lloyd get elected.

“There was a guy behind us who was asking some really xenophobic questions, and I didn’t like the tone at all. When this event ended, I had it out with him. This town hall empties, and it’s just me and my mates and this guy arguing.

“The then Lib Dem candidate came over, Stephen Lloyd. We’d met once before, and he remembered. I was quite impressed, and he basically broke up this fight and said, in a nutshell, ‘Don’t get mad. Get even. The way you can get even is by getting involved. Here’s my card. This is what I stand for. Come and help me win.’ And so, I did.”

Babarinde meets The House just hours after being handed the keys to his new parliamentary office. He wears a