David Cameron

[poliphilo]

David Cameron is a throwback to those 19th century politicians who went into politics because it's what people of their class did. He gave us the key to what drives him when he called the election a "Career Country defining moment".

He enjoys his work but has nothing to bring to it but but an Etonian plausibility and ease of manner and the unexamined values of the Chipping Camden set. When he pretends passion- as he did the other day- with the speech about how "bloody pumped up" he gets when he sees an entrepreneur- it's as if he were auditioning for the school play. He's a better actor than Ed Miliband and if acting were all it took he'd be a perfectly acceptable Prime Minister. His smooth pink face gives very little away. If he has a hinterland it remains unexplored. He is the least known and least knowable of recent prime ministers.

He has achieved very little in office that was worth achieving. He has applied policies that have harrassed the poor and allowed the very rich to get richer,  he has dropped bombs on foreigners to no very good effect, he has presided over the first stage of the break up of the United Kingdom. When he goes we'll forget him very quickly.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Very few politicians- even heads of state- remain famous for very long.

[matrixmann]

I understand that not everyone can be Tony Blair, but to be fair, if they had done anything remarkable during their reign, you'd automatically remember their names if someone mentioned them again.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about that. Ask most members of the public to name 20th century British PMs and they'd go "Churchill, Thatcher, Blair, er...um....."

[matrixmann]

Those are the really big ones.
Maybe it's also a question whether politics are interesting to one or not, but, say, you have trouble remembering the names of ministers even if you already got know them when nothing they did was anything remarkable or controversial, other persons you remember just because their names once were on everyone's lips or if they still play a bigger role in the establishment.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I think Lloyd George might be on the list. But it's Attlee who really ought to be - a limit case for the respective roles of achievement and charisma in achieving public memorability.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I agree. I think of the Attlee government as the best we've ever had.

I take a certain smug pride in having been born when Attlee was in power.