Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s highly methodical madness

HE LIKED TO dress in bright colours. Acidic yellow, fluorescent red and purple were his favourites for a jacket. His top shirt button was always undone, his tie loose, his suit crumpled and covered in his last dinner. On occasions he wore a bow tie; sometimes a Soviet military uniform, replete with medals. The leader of the right-wing and misnamed Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky was first and foremost a showman. He was after fame, money and sex—not political office. But he played an important role in Russian politics, stripping it of meaning, faking opposition, turning it into buffoonery and providing an outlet for nationalism and xenophobia.