His comedy is about comedy – deconstructing his own material, his audience’s reactions to it, his comedic devices (the callback, observation, repetition) and the superstar comics who fill the O2 and appear on Mock The Week. He is the Morrissey of comedy: uncompromising, prepared to alienate his audience, resistant to comedy fad, and dismissive of the mainstream comedy circuit and its multimillionaire inhabitants. Russell Howard was singled out for particular opprobrium. You had to be there.
In a riff about alternative comedy in the 1980s, he pointed out how hated Thatcher was. The miners hated her. Teachers hated her. The media hated her. Comedians hated her. The only way to explain how she won three elections was the superior number of votes she received compared to the other parties.
And therein lies an important truth for the modern Labour party. Say ‘Thatcher’ to most Labour party members, especially those over 40, and you can expect a reaction ranging from a cold shudder to an outbreak of swearing. Like John O’ Farrell, who distils his Things Can Only Get Better into the single premise that Thatcher was in power for the 1980s, and he didn’t like her much, most of us don’t like Thatcher. Unfortunately, we’re in a small minority. Mention ‘Thatcher’ to normal people, and you get a very different reaction – ranging from ambivalence to admiration. Many people over 40 associate her with boom times and their own salad days. Young people see her as a historic figure, like Florence Nightingale or Elizabeth I. Tories lionise her.
That’s one reason why Ed Miliband’s PMQs on Wednesday missed the target. To compare Cameron to Thatcher actually flatters him. The Tories loved it. And it opened Miliband open to a much worse accusation – that he is ‘son of Brown’. The Tories roared; Labour fell silent. The lobby wrote their predictable stories about Miliband’s trouncing.
Another event I attended this week was an astonishing seminar to coincide with the publication of Brown at 10, a new history of GB in Downing St by Anthony Seldon and Guy Lodge. Seldon and Lodge’s thesis, backed by voluminous interviews with the protagonists, is that Gordon Brown will be judged kindly by history for making the right calls on the banking crisis, but that his premiership was marred by an absence of ideas and mental illness. Indeed, Seldon made much of the former PM’s poor mental health, which he characterised as ‘complex’, ‘depressive’ and ‘obsessive’. He was fair-minded enough to concede that he didn’t believe Brown was ‘clinically depressed’, or taking antidepressants.
Different versions of these charges are already well known, and have been made in several recent books, from Jonathan Powell’s to Steve Richards’s. What was fascinating was that none of the audience, including the five or so ex-GB staffers I counted in the room, demurred. It’s not long to wait now until the former prime minister’s own memoir appears to set the record straight.
The lesson for Ed Miliband is simple: associations with former prime ministers will not do him any favours in the minds of many voters. Best think about his own tomorrows, not other people’s yesterdays.
‘normal’ bah humbug, boring !! ‘ complex , depressive, obsessive ‘ yum yum a true Brit. ! (rock ‘n’ roll even) now yes, let’s move ON
Aside from minor annoyance you’ve done an article on something I was about to write myself for Progress, you’re spot on! It’s time to move in. She left office in 1990. There is no gain to be had bringing her up again – it will only cheer the converted, and we can’t waste PMQs on that. My view was the Tories were hampered until Cameron because they couldn’t see the world post Thatcher, they still thought what worked in 1990 would work in 2001/5. We musn’t fall into the trap of doing the same from an opposition point of view, she’s gone and we must take the Tories to task for what they are doing now, not what happened in the 1980s. Some voters won’t even remember that time and as you say, some potential swing voters may even feel they benefitted from it.
but that his premiership was marred by an absence of ideas and mental illness. Indeed, Seldon made much of the former PM’s poor mental health, which he characterised as ‘complex’, ‘depressive’ and ‘obsessive’. He was fair-minded enough to concede that he didn’t believe Brown was ‘clinically depressed’, or taking antidepressants. Talk about doing a job on Brown.
Thatcher was a controversial but an iconic figure. Im 24 and admittedly wasn’t around for much of the Thatcher years. A one time Labour voter I now recognise that New Labour, and all its achievements such as the minimum wage etc, would not have been possible without Thatcher. After all its easy spending money, its more difficult making it. Thatcher left an economic blueprint for prosperity the likes of which this country has never seen. Id class myself as a floating voter but I too see her as a British lioness of history.
Totally true about Thatcher. Everyone I know hated her is not the same as everyone hating her. It’s like ‘everyone I know goes to Broadway Market on a Sunday for coffee’. They do but not everyone does. Though interestingly many young people who do know Thatcher have learned their opinions through their parents. I have taught many London teenagers with a strong hatred for Maggie. They’re not sure what she did but they are sure she was a terrible thing for working people. Unless of course you bought your council house in which case Thatcher’s has quite a different legacy in your family.
‘economic blueprint’ !! my God boy ,where have you been and or on what ? erm hello ,banking crisis -near collapse of capitalism- several countries to the wall !! wakey wakey rise and shine !! time to get up now.
Of course Cameron wants to be compared with Thatcher. Ed should get himself out of his Labour clique/peer group and become a Leader of the Opposition. The Brits expect their future PM to be seen with the monarchy, Ed should have a narrative for his life story and he should parade his family/partner and everything that goes with that. If you don’t want to do this – don’t stand for Labour Leader. There’s votes in it for Labour if our Leader is liked and there’s naive ministers slashing peoples’ way of life so Britain needs Labour. (Well, as with everything bad about Tories, except Ken Clarke). On the Thatcher front, the Thatcher supporters who lionise her may see the present as a great time to precipitate an Election. Ed has yet to hack it, Nick Clegg and the LibDims have lost credibility every time we see his indignation about political lying juxtaposed with his solemn commitments on tuitition fees – so the Tories could now sweep up the Lib Dem votes and get in power with a five year majority. The Thatcherites can then run the government – at the moment, party loyalty means supporting Dave, which means a coalition view on the Big Issues – especially Europe.