FORMER Tatton MP Neil Hamilton said this week: I'm glad I lost my job.

He told the Knutsford Guardian that he would not want to be in the House of Commons today.

"I can't think of anything more dismal," he said.

"Although I didn't seek to lose my seat in 1997 I am happy to be making a new life at a time when most people are coasting towards retirement."

Mr Hamilton criticised Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Tories for not highlighting Labour's faults.

The former cabinet minister, who was defeated by Independent Martin Bell in 1997, said the role of an MP had been devalued.

"So much power has been sped away to Brussels, Edinburgh and Cardiff that backbenchers are no more than social welfare officers," he said.

Burglars

Yesterday (Tuesday) Mr Hamilton was packing away more than 1,000 books before moving house with wife Christine.

They leave their Nether Alderley home of 13 years next week for a life in London.

Failed court actions against Harrods' boss Mohamed Al Fayed have left Mr Hamilton bankrupt and forced him to sell.

But this week he said the couple had seen it as new start.

"It's a bit of a wrench in many ways, but this chapter in our lives has come to an end and we have to move on," he said.

Over the past few years journalists have staked out the couple's grade II listed home.

The last scandal to engulf the couple was when Nadine Milroy-Sloan falsely accused them of a sex assault two years ago. She has since been jailed.

Most of the couple's belongings will soon in storage.

Some items have been donated to charity, but one will be staying with them.

"We are taking our cardboard cut-out of Margaret Thatcher because we'll need something to frighten the burglars," he said.