Janet Daley, Telegraph, writes on Britain's apparent non-love-affair with David Cameron, even though in her opinion he is doing all the right things.
Some extracts:
"But the great campaign to make Mr Cameron (and, by inference, his party) likeable – unthreatening, inoffensive, un-nasty – has an obverse side, which is now becoming clear. While almost none of the electorate violently detests him, nobody much loves him either. He is not repugnant – but neither is he inspirational. He is not malignant – but neither is he magnetic......All of which may go some way to explain why, although many of his policies are getting a good press and some of them, such as welfare reform, are extremely popular, his party is still just level-pegging in the polls with Labour, whose state of disarray has reached embarrassing proportions......."
Having met David Cameron, both socially and attending his surgeries, I am the first to say that he is extremely pleasant, likeable, courteous, interested and interesting - in fact everything you would hope to find in a politician.
Agreed, therefore, that he is not repugnant, inspirational, malignant nor magnetic - but what he is is a centre-left, EU loving, politician, the complete opposite of that which he presented to the British public at the last general election. Another factor which may well be the cause of the lack of what may be termed the 'wow-factor' is that the British public are not that acceptable to a government being formed in 'smoke-filled rooms' resulting in policies being pursued on which the electorate had no voice.
One of the criticisms made of the Coalition is: "new government = same old government" - a criticism that is all too apparent with their 'exhortations' on how we should behave; their belief in central government 'control'; that we may be granted a recall system for errant MPs, but deciding that the HoC will decide if we may; breaking and ditching promises purely to gain power; inflicting a referendum on the British electorate on a subject they were not particularly concerned about, but denying the one referendum that they do want - need I continue? As for Cameron's party being level-pegging with Labour in the polls, I can but refer to the comments I made here!
2 comments:
Given the medias attraction to 'Wow-factor', I wonder how Churchill, Douglas-Home, Macmillan, and Wilson would have scored.
Target practice, about all the msm is good for.
What kind of PM would I like? I'm not sure that I would. I certainly would give a very low rating to 'charisma' even appearance, they'd need to do the job full stop, and be a servant of the public aka the Nation. The position ought to be one of an interface with Royalty, though as an information duct only. The regions take care of business locally and are managed by a small team of full time regulatory staff, overseen by part time members in touch with commerce and social justices all accountable under law. Most of the present government buildings can be turned into a chain of Hotels known as 'The Formerly' group, or homes for the elderly or homeless.
Oh well, just a Sunday morning fantasy.
Derek: Agree on a PM doing the job. Wud also need to be someone with undying passion for his country and self-rule.
One thing we most definitely do not want is regional anything, thanks. Unless of course you mean local authorities?
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