Editorial: The very public fall of an MP

The outcome of a junior MP's night out dining and drinking will provide sobering food for thought for public figures in this country.

The fact that most people couldn't pick Aaron Gilmore out of a line-up before his infamous shenanigans at a Hanmer Springs hotel hasn't stopped an overwhelming public backlash that has risen all the way to the Prime Minister and is looking to engulf the 59th-placed National list MP.

Mr Gilmore was accused of abusing a waiter who had refused to sell him a bottle of wine after a dinner with his partner and friends last week.

The Christchurch MP was said to have asked wait staff "Do you know who I am?" and was accused of threatening to use the Prime Minister's influence to get the waiter sacked.

If last week was bad for Mr Gilmore, this week wasn't any better.

First, newspapers reported claims he tried to use his status to force a couple out of their rented home. Then, at a press conference on Tuesday he apologised for his behaviour, before going on to deny the claims levelled at him. To top it off, the Prime Minister, who at first wasn't interested unless there was an official complaint, yesterday stepped in and sharpened the axe. Text messages had emerged which cast doubt on Gilmore's story and John Key wasn't impressed. He made it clear the errant MP should resign, joining calls made by plenty of others in recent days.

Oh, how the high and mighty have fallen.

All this from an evening with friends, drinking, Mr Gilmore said, three wines and two beers over a four or five-hour period.

Misbehaviour from our representatives shouldn't be tolerated, and while this indiscretion may seem small beer to some, few will leap to Mr Gilmore's defence.

He won't have been the first MP to get a little belligerent on the plonk, and he won't be the last, but this will have some of our public figures thinking twice about over-indulging when out and about.