David Starkey turned into a TV stereotype from his previous incarnation as being a not very good historian. Academic politics are arcane and irrelevant to anybody who isn't directly concerned (even for people who work in the same institutions) but there is no doubt that his former colleagues hated him not just because he was a pompous bore with no commitment to his day job but also because he was nowhere near as good at being a historian as he and his fans like to think. He was at the LSE for enough years for him to have made professor, but his publications became irrelevant and his media profile took precedence over his career. In person he is nice enough (although a bit of a wannabee celeb) but as an academic he is second division at best. He may have the money but he had the chance to really make his mark and underneath all his bullshit that will really hurt.