Shropshire's Blue Peter star Radzi could follow mother into politics
The TV presenter son of a new councillor has hinted that he may follow his mother into politics one day.
Former Shropshire schoolboy, Blue Peter presenter Radzi Chinyanganya, was in Wolverhampton on the night of the local elections to see his mother, Barbara McGarrity, elected for the Springvale ward, the first of 22 seats to be declared in the city.
Radzi, who attended Adams’ Grammar School in Newport, cheered loudly as the retired mental health nurse’s victory was announced in the early hours of Friday.
The presenter, who was also part of the BBC team at the Winter Olympics, told the Shropshire Star his mother had been a huge influence on his life, and revealed he would not rule out entering politics himself.
“Never say never,” he said.
In March, Radzi appeared as a panellist on BBC’s Question Time, praising Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and arguing against calls for a second referendum on Brexit. He was criticised in some quarters for taking part because of BBC rules governing the impartiality of its staff.
However, the BBC responded by saying Radzi was a freelance presenter, and did not work in news and current affairs, where his job would mean he could not talk in public about his political views.
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The 31-year-old raised eyebrows on Brexit when he told the Question Time audience he thought it was ‘undemocratic to question the will of the people’, regardless of how they voted.
And on the subject of the Labour leader, he said: “I feel that Jeremy Corbyn over the last two years has had to endure and shoulder a sluice of propaganda, whether it’s about the national anthem or his friends in Hezbollah and Hamas. The way he’s dealt with it has been with honour, with dignity and nobility – that’s what real leadership is.”
Following his mother’s success in taking the seat formerly held by Ukip, he praised her achievement as a single parent, adding: “Do we care what goes on in society? Absolutely. Does the plight of the ordinary man matter to us? Absolutely.
"My passion for people's welfare comes from my mum who worked in mental health for the National Health Service for 40 years. In that sense, we are massively passionate about the effect of politics."
The mop-haired economics graduate is still based in Wolverhampton, where he shares a house with his mother and sister Rufaro, 25, a fashion communications graduate.
He said: "I'm always here. If I'm not working I will be having a long lie-in in Wolverhampton."
