Why are we so bothered about our politicians’ ‘charisma’?
Mindful of the perception of him as an automaton, the Leader of the Opposition has given a high profile television interview to show that he really is human.
To be fair to Keir Starmer, when he did show emotion on ITV it did at least appear genuine. But why is it essential for our politicians to, one way or the other, give a performance?
You see, Starmer is deemed to be boring whereas Boris Johnson is apparently entertaining. I don’t recall the Prime Minister ever saying something funny; not intentionally anyway. He’s never, for example, publicly told an amusing anecdote. But no matter. It’s all about perception.
This is a relatively new concept. In the past there have been undoubtedly magnetic leaders, such as Lloyd George and Churchill. But other giants such as Attlee and Gladstone were not the party animals demanded today.
Margaret Thatcher famously had a minimal sense of humour, but once endured a play called Anyone For Denis? which mocked her and her husband. She did this to create the entirely erroneous impression that she was a “good sport”.
That was the start of it. Her successor, John Major, was pilloried daily for being “grey” as it apparently mattered. Now every politician has to show their “fun” side by revising the top 40 at election time, whereas nobody else aged over 25 either knows nor cares.
Gordon Brown was rarely confused with a ray of sunshine. There is no shame in being a dour Scotsman, so he must regret that spin doctors convinced him otherwise and persuaded him to smile “naturally” and feign an interest in Britain’s Got Talent.
If Benjamin Disraeli visited Sunderland today they would have him playing the spoons outside the Museum Vaults.
It’s strange when you think about it. If your hairdresser, mechanic or dentist did an excellent job, you wouldn’t be put off using them again because they were a bit dull.
But in politics charisma, or apparent charisma, matters.
It’s a vote winner; for some voters ahead of intelligence, morality, integrity, empathy and … er ... policies.
To some extent we can exonerate politicians from competing in a personality, rather than a policy contest. After all, it says more about us than them.