On that $200 thing…

| 04/04/2017

Cayman News Service101 writes: Prospect’s political candidate for the 2017 General Elections, Mathew Leslie, has been allegedly caught doing inappropriate stuff on Facebook messenger. He is running for office and in the wake of this mess, he has publicly admitted that he has “partied”, made mistakes, etc. But instead of repeating ad nauseam that “my private life is my private life”, he needs to step down. Now.

Politicians know the drill. If you are representing the country or trying to do so, then you cannot behave inappropriately and pull the private life card.

At this stage Mr Leslie is an unwanted distraction in the political campaign. People don’t need to watch a silly local horror show of a guy saying “former wife” then “wife” then “hacked”, then “I was dazed, so maybe not hacked” and now the tired “it’s my private life” angle.

You don’t get to wash away your sins with your previous work in the community either. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way.

And the fact that other candidates have also been guilty of stuff (yes, there are several) doesn’t mean you are allowed to stay in the election race. All it means is that when their dirty laundry surfaces, they too must go; one standard for all.

This incident does highlight how vulnerable candidates are in the new ‘one person, one vote’ setup. A single incident can mean that your political competition is cut by a third or even more. Imagine what would happen in George Town Central if a crisis was to hit one of those two candidates, for example?

But more importantly, we need to be discussing what the next government is going to with the GT dump, how more young Caymanians will get a better education or whether we will finally get to reducing youth unemployment, not how Mr Leslie is going to save his 47-day-old marriage or how much he “partied” in his youth while dealing with his demons.

Mathew: spare us all and walk away from this campaign immediately and if you are deemed to have done any of those things that are alleged, please please get some professional help.

We need to be talking about the next 600 million dollar government budget, not this $200 thing.

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Category: Candidates, Election Viewpoint

Comments (102)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Kinda remind me of the Bill Clinton issue.
    But more so on the charity run he been having.
    Matthew guy is a real fronted for a lot of different business.
    Has he explained where all the money goes that he been collecting for the various charities?
    He been giving out the corn beef and the used clothes, but where is the money honey?
    What a bunch of misfits being backed by a Dr. with unknown intentions.
    Cayman is too small for voters not to see right through the candidates.
    Do they really take Cayman for idiots?

    • Anonymous says:

      I can answer your last question by merely looking at the history of politicians. Look at all of Mac’s eF-ups and he still keeps getting back in! So, yes, there certainly are some Cayman idiots up in here.
      Let’s see how this election pans out.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Enough about Mathew the small minded people are enjoying this drama. Let’s get to the really issues, the dump, education, jobs, crime …….come on Cayman he is not worth another minute of attention when we have really issues.

  3. Anonymous says:

    This pitiful excuse for a man (he’s not a man) contacted me in November asking to me to come meet him. I refused. He also contacted my friend and offered her money for sexual favors. She refused as well. We were both disgusted by him that he would have the gall to approach us in such a manner, nevermind that he was engaged at the time!! He is a slimy ugly man who has no morals and for him to at first play victim and lie about being hacked and blaming his wife is disgraceful. He only cares that he has been caught. Now he’s back peddling and trying to make out it’s not that bad. Well it is. If people in Prospect vote him in, then it says a lot about their lack of intelligence and mentality.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Isn’t prostitution illegal?

    • Anonymous says:

      No, prostitution is perfectly legal in Cayman. Pimping is illegal.

    • Rob says:

      No one is Cayman has ever gone to jail for paying for or selling sex.

      There was a court case where a woman wasn’t happy with her payment so she vindictively switched up her story and said she was raped, and the man was prosecuted on that basis, but that’s about it.

      I don’t remember the outcome of that case.

    • JETsF00 says:

      TRUE.

      FAR too many girls and women selling themselves up around Cayman. How can YOU blame matty the biggest boss that you seen thus far? Its the same elemental society you all follow and crave anyways…Jet$

      Look around…

    • Anonymous says:

      If Cayman wants stricter laws that protect women and amend the law to ensure that prostitution is illegal and not just pimping. It will never happen with this creep elected.

  5. Caymanian donkey says:

    Get over it, look at other candidates, assaulting cops, assaulting women, drug charges, gambling, cheating on wife’s with Spanish girl in certain bars.
    What’s the difference with Matthew running, becuase it was on FB?
    I’m not in his district and personally wish I was.
    I’m in red bay, I have Mcfield, who I personally beleive is a racist, has assualted police, and spent sometime in the cells. Then I have Alden, we’re to start, he’s the one that raised all MLAs salaries for a part time job, he the one that gave all MLAs pensions after 1 term, he’s the one that spent a shoot load of money on buildings not needed, he’s the one that has NOT relocated the dump.
    He’s the one that sits in Spanish bar.
    Lastly I than have Mr Tibbets, I have no idea who this this man is, I know his brother.
    I closing Matt Leslie isn’t that bad a choice compared to what we have in RB.

    This is why 1 man 1 vote will never work in a small community! We don’t get to choice of the persons we really want to vote for.

    Oh, and for the 1zt time in 20yrs I probably won’t vote, unless I decide to pick the person who will do the least damage.

    • Anonymous says:

      Wait, wait! You forgot another aspect of “Dr” McField: the gunshot wound to his leg – still unexplained after all these years! Some of us have long memories, Frank: longa dan rope, in fact.

      All together now, everyone: “HOW YOU GOT SHOT, FRANK?!” Was it perhaps a self-inflicted wound, to demonstrate your judgment and characteristic competence? Was the gun yours, and if so did you have a license? If it wasn’t, what were you up to that someone felt compelled to shoot you? Why were you dumped wounded out of a car at the hospital at dead of night? And why didn’t you file a police report?

      EXPLAIN, FRANK! Until you do, you’re treating us all with contempt. I’m a Red Bay voter too, and I won’t even think about voting for you until you provide us with a plausible explanation. Nor should anybody else.

      Oh and by the way, haven’t you been living overseas for several years recently? Do you even qualify to stand?

      • Mokes-for-all says:

        If you don’t pay your drug dealer, a gunshot to the leg is a pretty convincing method of encouraging you to pay up – just saying.

        • Anonymous says:

          That is funny ………… I don’t care who you are. Thanks for the belly laugh.

    • Anonymous says:

      same here

  6. Anonymous says:

    Look at the clown road show Cayman’s election has become. Everyone thinks they can run a country and represent us on the world stage. One wanted to build an oil refinery and his profession has yet to be determined, the other got shot in the foot and has yet to reveal by whom, another one runs an illegal jet skiing business on crown land (ie public beach), this one seems to be having wandering eyes just months after gotten married….I mean is this for real? Those are the folks we are supposed to tell our kids we deem are capable of running a country????!!!!

  7. Anonymous says:

    If someone were to be in an open marriage, with the full consent of their partner, that would be a personal matter. If someone who wants to be trusted with public office and yet immediately breaks the trust of their closest loved one, that should be considered in the minds of voters.

  8. Anonymous says:

    If one is telling the truth about the matter which man/woman can truly say I never propositioned another woman or man while going out with another person, either spouse or girl/boy friend? Be honest God is listening

  9. Anonymous says:

    One thing is certain… the memes about this affair have been hilarious

    #caymanmemes

  10. Anonymous says:

    If you make mistakes, then confess and ask for forgiveness, Trying to make a smoothie out of a ton of horse manure is unforgivable.

  11. Anonymous says:

    101 when you running! Good viewpoint again though

  12. Anonymous says:

    Matthew Clinton much!!

  13. Anonymous says:

    Q.) What is the difference between candidate (now President) Donald Trump and candidate Matthew Leslie?

    A.) A few billion dollars – give or take.

    (Think about it. In fact, of the two, Leslie has proven to be the more principled (to date) when we take into account all scandals, lawsuits and actions.)

    Riddles aside, as I warned a dear Republican-leaning friend months back on the lead-up to the U.S. election; “I hope you know what you (and your voting colleagues) are setting us all up for?” Gone are the days where you / we can demand “decent” and moral individuals to seek office.

    Trump rode on a CLEAR AND PRESENT wave of sleaze, misogyny, lies, prejudice, race-baiting, division and xenophobia all the way to the highest office in the American land and that of “leader of the free world”.

    Fast-forward to this week and said dear friend is horrified by the revelations surrounding Matthew Leslie.
    They echoed sentiments similar to those of the original poster and called for Leslie to suspend his election on the basis of, but not limited to, a continuance being far too great a distraction etc.

    (Ahem!!) Trump, Trump, Trump much?!

    The lesson here folks is when we suspend our usual values and morals and consciously support absolute slime – primarily to spite the “other side” – we may simply be setting precedent that will come back to bite us in the a$$ down the road – right in our own front yard to boot!

    All being said and politically done, who is anyone to tell Matthew Leslie that he MUST suspend his campaign? Don’t get me wrong, I do not support the guy, but maybe the presence and timing of this scandal is good for the Cayman Islands? Hopefully we will experience a near-miss and bring it back to centre with higher standards for our elected politicians.

    Interestingly, many of our “conservative” Caymanians – and they are many – remain outraged this week, yet the irony and hypocrisy of their recent justifications and outright support for questionable individuals cannot be overlooked.

    Maybe if the class act of a family that are the Obamas were still in office and the White House then my conclusion would be different. However, the election of the current U.S. President tore up the rule book, the masses voted for the underbelly of morality, and apparently this is the age in which we live.

    So, go for it Matt. Shoot your shot and let the pieces fall where they fall. By the way, knowing what I know of you – I know the chances of you withdrawing are next to none.

    After all, the concepts of shame and embarrassment have always appeared to be foreign to you. Just being honest.

    – Who

    • Anonymous says:

      What the hell are you talking about? We are discussing Cayman politics not stuff that happened in another country months ago…..

      • Anonymous says:

        Oh dear…there’s always one.
        Congrats, it’s you.

        – Who

        🙂

        • Diogenes says:

          No its you. Not everything that happens in Cayman can be justified by comparison with another country supposedly being worse, or a former colonial power. WTF does what happened in the US presidential election have to do with electing an MLA? Seriously? My campaign platform is that I am not Donald Trump? .

    • Anonymous says:

      Who, guess you didn’t qualify and now back to angry rhetoric?

  14. Caymanian says:

    Personally I would probably suggest the same but not because of his representation and all that jazz.

    Matthew I recommend it because there are far more important things in life than money and power. For you on a personal level you need to do it to straighten out the things that matter most in life. Always remember family is suppose to come first.

    Don’t do it because people want your scalp but because of your family.

    You are still young. In the next elections you can show the world how you turned your life around. Fix your weight, fix your family and become a force for good and decency and then if you feel you want to do more for your country go for it. Be then and example of a human with all it’s faults trying to be and do good.

    • Anonymous says:

      He will NEVER recover from his behavior that spans 20 years. People have had enough. Redemption time is over.

      • JETsF00 says:

        He dont have to change for nothing. You judged him 100 times already and he still aint dead yet…LOL lame azz…

  15. Anonymous says:

    Let him run, people have a right to elect someone of their own choosing no matter how despicable the person might be.

    He could become Minister of Cuddling and save us hundreds of millions of dollars in overseas medical fees.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Ha! This is rich! Do you know where you are? Have you seen the list of candidates in this year’s race?!? Spare us the sanctimonious nobility lectures. The talent pool is far too shallow. Unless the “birth Caymanian” eligibility requirements are loosened, this ilk are all we’ll ever draw to choose from.

    • Anonymous says:

      5.08pm So things will only improve if we allow expats to run for office. Enough with the prejudice already

      • Jotnar says:

        Well, things would improve if you could persuade successful, bright and honest Caymanians to run for office, but I guess they are too busy making money.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Anyone who uses the word party as a verb is not fit for public office.

  18. Ambassador of Absurdistan says:

    The time has come Cayman to EXPOSE ALL the women beaters, crooked deals and dealers, kick back takers, cheaters, drug users, tyrants, abusers of power, those in the closet, paedophiles, drunks, religious zealots, homosexuals, con artists, bigots, racists, drug dealers, dead beat dads, fake christians, bible bashers, fascists, sellouts, facilitators of corruption, anti-Caymanians, anti-expatriates, those in it for the paychecks pension and the prestige of public office

    • Anonymous says:

      May be nobody left

    • Anonymous says:

      That’s everyone! 🙂

    • Anonymous says:

      Pretty much covers everything. How much personal experience did you draw on for this exhaustive list?
      Just kidding!

    • Anonymous says:

      So all of our politicians?

      • LIFER$ says:

        So grateful some folks ‘legitimately’ see through the falsery…because some people act BLIND & DEAF on purpose.

        Clearly there is no Cayman middle class – even though were full of actors. As a result, there’s no one to vote for without either the rich or the poor to suffer, as these are the only two working classes in Cayman.

        The monetarily rich will never harness the reigns to create a middle class in Cayman again – if they were smart and even cared about themselves much less others, they could see if a middle class existed Cayman would be booming and they could captivate further! #MeansMoreMoney #Economy101

        Well all I remember is the 80s/90s – everybody (Mostly Locals, duh) had they little means of getting greens, not now! #SlaveLife #KuntaKen

  19. Anonymous says:

    Lucille is going to walk back into the LA where she will do, as before, nothing but will be another of these high earning plus receiver of high civil service pension MLAs and she will provide one crucial vote to the PPM.

    • Diogenes says:

      And you would prefer Leslie or Harris? At least she isn’t going to beat someone up or get caught in a texting scandal.

      • Anonymous says:

        But your comment just shows how hopeless our political system is. Voting for useless people because they are less useless than the others. It’s embarrassing banana republic stuff.

        • Anonymous says:

          Don’t be so sure about beating someone up…….. we all have a past.

  20. Anonymous says:

    #whoshotdrfrank?

    • Anonymous says:

      I am sick and tired of people saying that we need a solution for the dump. The PPM delivered a solution. I can’t believe the posters here won’t admit that.

      RFP next step.

      I don’t care who Mathew is seeing. That’s his business.

    • Diogenes says:

      When I first read that I thought you were asking who’s hot!

    • Anonymous says:

      4.26pm Was it Sue Ellen?

    • Anonymous says:

      If he answers that and and the reason why they shot him, he can have my vote 🙂

    • Lomart says:

      So if a Doctor of Sociology, aka Social Anthropologist, goes undercover, digging in the trenches to support a deep-rooted research whereby the analytical response may lead to possible methods to best deal with sociological diseases, takes a bullet in the process and refuses to disclose the details, how does that differ from a drugs task force agent being shot in the line of duty? Or a soldier being gunned down on the battlefield?

      Please tell me.

  21. Anonymous says:

    If Matthew lied to his wife… why wouldn’t he lie to the voters? He couldn’t keep his marriage vows for more than a couple of months and yet he wants people to trust in him? Good luck with the weight loss and all, keep helping the community when you can but just don’t expect people to elect you into public office.

    • Anonymous says:

      Apparently he never kept the vows at all.

    • Anonymous says:

      Da man appears to lack in self control. Maybe get another operation to help him with the problem.

    • Anonymous says:

      Show me an honest politician and I will share with you a cut of the 10 million I have sitting in my account. Matthew is creepy yes, apparently willing to pay for pu$$y to get his rocks off but I don’t think he’s the only man guilty of this. I know of a current MLA who has a side chick that lives next door to me. He visits her most days around lunch time while her man is at work. Every time I see him I only think “poor fool”. These lunch times dates are not to pick flowers and bake cookies. They all have skeletons and weaknesses. It’s just Matthew’s been exposed.

      • Anonymous says:

        I don’t doubt you are correct in most of what you state. However, we can only hold accountable the liars, and cheats we know of, and not the ones we don’t know about.

    • Anonymous says:

      If you will lie to and cheat on the most important person in your life and they cannot trust you; you will lie to and cheat the people you represent and they cannot trust you.

  22. Anonymous says:

    He won’t step down these guys are way too arrogant. They are just power hungry and also in it for the money .

  23. Anonymous says:

    Trump grabbed women by the pu$$y and was elected to the highest office in America to oversee 320 million people so I will never say NEVER but……
    I feel he should step down and work on his demons as he calls it since he has so much going on right now. For the life of me I can’t understand why he would still push this?? He will end up with less than 17 votes this time around. Have some pride Matthew. Go to therapy, work on the weight loss; which I am sure has contributed to his depression and desperation. Heal yourself before you can entertain the idea of marriage much less an MLA seat. Continue with your charity and posting it on Facebook.

    • Anonymous says:

      He lied and stated his computer was hacked…now it all comes to light. Do we really want someone in office like him? We have enough of s..t in office already. Did he not learn his lesson when he got kicked off the police force???

  24. Anonymous says:

    We tolerated him for a very long time but yet he continues to do evil. It seems the people of this country won’t allow it to happen anymore.

  25. Anonymous says:

    Sounds to me like the makings of a average to good politician.

  26. ThIs WrItInG Is VeRy IrRiTaTiNg says:

    Good one! I agree completely. Unfortunately that is par for the course here. Do you recall when any political candidate has done the honourable thing and stepped down when faced with an issue questioning his fitness as a candidate? Mac with credit cards in casinos. Ozzie berating a female civil servant over a phone bill. Anthony with his wicked personal views on the LGBT community aired in the LA. Shouldn’t they all have to step aside as well?

    • Anonymous says:

      Imports need to be allowed to stand, because some of them are actually quite bright and interested in sorting Cayman out.

      • Anonymous says:

        As opposed to what?? What exactly are you saying?

      • Anonymous says:

        But some are bright but certainly do not want what’s best for Caymanians. Think legal practitioners.

  27. Rob says:

    Matthew paid his money to be in this race and he won’t give up that easily. People were telling Donald Trump to quit too with his less that perfect record – grabbing women by the …., his fake university etc. But who is President now? Landslide by the way.

    I respect the author’s viewpoint, but Matthew loves his country, has a vision for it, and has decided to stay in the race. End of story. All that anyone can do is either vote for him or not for him, it’s that simple. But to tell him to get out of the race altogether is not the author’s place or anyone’s place to do. Unless of course he has made some violation according to the Election’s Office and has no choice but to drop out.

    I personally am not impressed with what surfaced late last week regarding his personal affairs, but I do admire his resilience in spite of it all and wish him the best because his fight to represent his constituency has become a lot more difficult.

    • Anonymous says:

      If you were a woman you would think differently.

    • Anonymous says:

      wow. ‘Resilience’ wasn’t the word that came to my mind. Audacity or temerity were but a few that came to my mind. In fact it almost smacked of madness.

      • Rob says:

        Matthew has tenecity and heart. You say audacity because he’s not confirming to your wish for him to drop out, and commenters here are freaking out because he’s staying true to Man Code by not being a coward and running because of a little pressure.

        Look at it this way, if he can handle the heat and vitriol from you all, which he is doing just fine with by the way, then he will do an amazing job as a politician when things get tough. That’s the kind of person that any country needs in office.

        • Anonymous says:

          Actually not so. I think the idea that he has decided to spin this so that he’s the victim and to defend the indefensible is very worrying. If he genuinely believes he’s not done anything wrong he should just not say anything. He would have been better off. He can have temerity and audacity and still run but don’t ask us to drink the kool aid.

    • Anonymous says:

      Errr, not a landslide and a very unpopular president.

    • Anonymous says:

      And if you were a woman solicited by Matthew you would DEFINITELY think differently!

      • Anonymous says:

        I am a female and I certainly do not condone Matthew’s sleazy behavior but the woman he was messaging in the screen shots was clearly willing and able for $200.00. Many thot’s among us.

  28. Anonymous says:

    In the last election (when GT voters had 4 votes each) there were 31,000 votes cast in George Town. Mr. Leslie obtained 91 of them. About one third of one per cent (0.3%). That is an astonishing achievement. There are 1184 voters in Prospect in 2017. That means if he gets 4 votes in May that will be more than 0.3%. If he manages 8 votes he will have doubled in popularity!

    • Anonymous says:

      George Town voters had six votes each last election. You redo the math, i cant be bothered.

      • Anonymous says:

        There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damn lies, and statistics.

        I doesn’t matter how many votes each person had since they could only assign one vote to any single individual.

        91 people voted for him out of the 5000 or whatever amount voted. That’s a bad enough statistic, and there is no need to make it look better or worse.

  29. Anonymous says:

    WOW … superior piece!

  30. Anonymous says:

    INTEGRITY. INTEGRITY. INTEGRITY. If you cannot deal with your less than a month old marriage with integrity, how do I think you are going to deal with our country??????
    Why do you think Clinton tanked? Either of them!!
    Haven’t you noticed that even in the USA if they are exposed, they tank. Just for one, Gary Hart… And don’t think that JFK would get away with what he was up to if it was this day and age. The press in those days were willing to protect them but no more.
    Mark my words, if any of the other candidates get exposed, I won’t be woting for them either. We just can’t get enough evidence on a few of them or trust me, they would be exposed as well. For ALL their underhanded deeds.
    Tough way to learn an important lesson. Hopefully this is what our youth will learn from. Not how to get away with it as our past politicos have been doing.
    Get it?!

  31. Anonymous says:

    A candidate’s personal life that reveals how much respect they have for themselves, their personal relationships, what they do for money (female and male candidates) speaks directly to their integrity. Let us not be hypocrites and say it means nothing when we have repeated how disappointed we were when former MLAs displayed such disrespect.

    If a candidate shows so little respect for the people who love them, do we really believe they will respect what we need as a people?

    Character does matter and I hope we make that loud and clear in May, regardless of party.

    • ThIs WrItInG Is VeRy IrRiTaTiNg says:

      “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” ― John Wooden

      • Anonymous says:

        The true test of a man’s ability to make an argument is how seldom he reaches for the dictionary of quotations.

  32. JM says:

    two hunnud and cab fare..

    • Anonymous says:

      At least he negotiated good. If by any chance in (hell at WB) he got elected he might be able to negotiate in that fashion to save the country some money.
      Funny but not so funny after all.

  33. Anonymous says:

    He should really step down., the mere fact that he’s not denying it says everything. we dont need people like that in the LA.

    • Anonymous says:

      You already have them-why should he be any different?

    • Anonymous says:

      we don’t need MORE people like that in the LA.

    • Anonymous says:

      Step down from what????

      • Anonymous says:

        From further embarassing the Cayman Islands. This information is available globally and forever. We do not want to be the country that is known to vote in a pedophile and someone who has a sex addiction problem.