Jacqui Smith, Meet Political Oblivion. Political Oblivion, Meet Jacqui

It would take a heart of stone not to be moved into some sort of emotion by the misfortunes of one Jacqui Smith. And by emotion I mean floods of hysterical, joyous tears of wonderous happiness:

Jacqui Smith faces political ruin as a result of the damning verdict that a Commons watchdog passed on her expenses claims and because police support officers contradicted her account of her movements.

Oh, my, yes, that's wonderful, wonderful news. A career that was already on the skids now faces absolute political ruin. Oh yes, that's just what the doctor ordered. Near perfect stuff.

Not that Jacqui Smith would agree:

Ms Smith said that the report vindicated her claim that she spent substantial amounts of time in a house in London owned by her sister, which she designated as her main home.

Of course she says she was vindicated by the report. She is a Nu Labour politician. Any report vindicates her. Even if the report was called "Jacqui Smith Is A Corrupt Fucktard And Deserves Summary Execution In The Format Of Shooting In The Back Of The Head For Her Crimes", it would vindicate her in her eyes. She's probably been briefed by Mandelson himself, who is an expert at making the most damning of condemnation look like a pat on the back.

Unfortunately, the facts do not agree with Ms Smith's "take" on the "truth":

But John Lyon revealed that police guarding the property questioned the veracity of the former Home Secretary’s evidence, with their records showing that the number of nights she had spent in London was at odds with Ms Smith’s account. He says that last year the police figures suggested that Ms Smith spent 37 more nights in Redditch than she had in London; her estimates based on her diary suggested that the difference was nine nights. Figures for the previous year suggest that she had spent 12 more nights in Redditch than in London.

Right, so on the one hand we can believe the self-serving estimates of an incompetent, corrupt politician, or on the other we can believe the police. I'm not a fan of either; however, in these circumstances, I'm in favour of the police account of events. Which means the evidence shows that Smith is not only not fit to hold high office, but she isn't fit to be an MP.

However, that doesn't mean I think she should step down. Oh no, Smith should fight on. She should try to retain her seat. Because - even though her constituency is in Redditch - I don't think any set of voters would be willing to return the odious Jacqui Smith to the Commons. She has been forced from her job in the Cabinet, forced from her position as a possible Labour leadership contender, and forced back on to the backbenchers. Her fall from grace has been startling. And what better way to cap that off than to see her booted out of the Commons at the next election by a sizable majority?

Since we're probably not going to see Smith imprisoned for her corruption, ritual public humiliation will have to do.