May hit the right note in an age when connecting with the audience is key

IT WAS more of an all-round performance, rather than simply a speech. And she carried it off with aplomb. It bought her valuable time. Who knows? Theresa May just might have plucked victory from the jaws of defeat. As we survey the overheated Westminster bubble, twin dramas are played out. There’s the ongoing Brexit hurly burly. There is also Boris Johnson’s seething ambition, to do down his prime minister, by fair means or foul.

This week, politically speaking, he plunged a dagger between her shoulder blades. In a carefully crafted address he determined to paint himself as everything his nemesis is not. He was cast as the blond, swashbuckling, young warrior, full of chutzpah and brio, who will bring Brussels mandarins to heel.

Johnson is an arch proponent of the populism gaining traction across the globe. His easy turn of phrase had dreamy-eyed followers clapping uproariously. He was lethal in scarcely concealed taunts, portraying May as lacking the bottle for the brutal Brexit battles now at hand.

He went for the jugular in a blatant challenge to her authority.

So how would she respond? Her collective of spin doctors and image specialists – including a former BBC television producer – faced their biggest challenge to date.

This surely was time for thinking outside the box. Her speech at this year’s party conference, with its usual mass TV audience, could make or break her. The lingering gung-ho residue of the Johnson assault had her on the ropes.

Those operating the prime ministerial spin machine knew winning over a television audience in particular is often dependent on mastery of the trivial.

Real depth and solid analysis can be counterproductive and more trouble than they’re worth.

And so this self-confessed, straightlaced 62-year-old was taught to boogie to an Abba anthem. Practising a carefully rehearsed walk on stage must have seemed just a little daft, given the host of problems hankering for her attention.

But as it transpired, having her stride forward, throwing shapes to the strains of ‘Dancing Queen’, was a master stroke. She could even poke fun at some of her other foibles, such as that infamous coughing fit, which nearly scuppered her speech at last year’s conference.

This time, May immediately hit a connection with her audience and held it throughout.

And by drawing attention to some of the skittish aspects of her own approach, she subliminally reminded her audience of the flimsiness masking Boris Johnson’s ambition.

Her spin-machine approach was clear. She could act the fool just as much as Johnson. But at the end of the day, she had something solid to offer.

Overall, it was a reminder that creating a ‘connection vibe’ when on television is central to success in modern politics. May’s use of a prop, such as the ABBA song, worked the oracle.

There may be some lessons for our own politicians. Life’s unfair – and nowhere more so than in the political jungle, or so the cynics say. Here at home, Leo Varadkar has introduced

spin to a new level if his critics are to be believed.

But for good or ill, this is now the way of the world. As the cynic also suggests, sometimes you may have to fake sincerity if you really want to get your message out there. This may be a bleak conclusion, but in the Tinseltown world of television and social media, the reality is that some politicians simply refuse to play by the rules.

The ultimate TV street fighter is

Donald Trump.

Love him or loathe him, he is one of the arch communicators of our age.

But if his opponents really want to take him out come election time, they need somebody to play him at his own game.

That person must be a performer – just as much as they are a politician. As of now, nobody comes to mind.

She could act the fool just as much as Johnson. But at the end of the day, she had something solid to offer