Politics & Power Quote by Adam Rickitt

It’s the kind of earnest reassurance that only makes sense in a culture already suspicious that politics is sliding into show business. Adam Rickitt, an actor weighing in on MPs and party gatekeeping, leans hard on the language of honor and duty, as if invoking a civic sacrament can disinfect the whole conversation. The line is built to sound like common sense: being an MP is a “greatest honours,” therefore the party will behave responsibly. That “therefore” is the rhetorical magic trick.

The intent is defensive but strategic. Rickitt isn’t just praising Parliament; he’s preemptively rebutting the accusation that celebrity candidacies are a stunt. The phrase “for the sake of media coverage” names the charge everyone is thinking, then tries to defuse it by relocating trust from the candidate to the institution: don’t judge the face, judge the vetting.

Subtext: he’s asking the public to separate profile from competence while quietly benefiting from the attention profile brings. “Did not have the goods” borrows from pop-cultural talk of talent and readiness, smuggling an entertainment-world metric into a political claim. It also keeps the standard vague: “the goods” could mean experience, charisma, loyalty, or simply not embarrassing the brand.

Contextually, this sits in the familiar U.K. cycle where parties flirt with outsider candidates to cut through cynicism and news saturation, then insist they’re above gimmickry. The quote’s power lies in that tightrope walk: affirm the seriousness of the job, deny the stunt, and keep the door open for the very spectacle you’re disavowing.