parody at our peril
One year into his tenure as Prime Minister it’s fair to say that whilst we’ve not exactly warmed to Dave, he certainly seems to have grown into the role and in comparison to his counterparts undoubtedly looks more the part. Contrary to some of his Government’s many bungles and botched reforms he appears to govern with a certain assurance, a panache: he wears the power and authority of the office like a pair of expensively made shoes. God forbid like he was born to it.
His detractors see this arrogance and often condescending nature as his Achilles heel and Labour has coined the nick-name ‘Flashman’, after the caddish cane-wielding bully of Tom Brown’s Schooldays, for him. It certainly seems to fit as his high-handed approach has recently seen him telling one woman Labour MP to “calm down, dear, calm down” and brushing off another with “I have absolutely no idea who you are”. Ouch.
But parody him at your peril. In this day and age we don’t invest enough time in truly understanding our politicians, or their beliefs and policies. We love a sound-bite and a cartoon persona. Look at the great favour the Russians did for Margaret Thatcher by referring to her as ‘the Iron Lady’; they could have done nothing more in endearing her to the nation’s heart and my, did she rise to the portrayal. The further irony is that deep-down we all love a bad-boy and providing Cameron with an easily recognised jokingly defined persona actually makes him far more colourful and ultimately more attractive. Dead-Ed and Fall Guy Clegg must dread being called in to do his fagging as they both know they’re the next ones to be tied-up and roasted in front of the fire by ol’ Flashman.
