Brian 1 - 0 Politicians
Brian Haw has won this year’s Channel 4 award for Most Inspiring Political Figure.
Mr Haw received 54 per cent of the votes cast by the public in the channel’s political awards for 2007.Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the British Army, who embarrassed the Government by saying troops should be withdrawn from Iraq, came second with 18 per cent.
Tony Blair was backed by eight per cent and David Cameron by six per cent.
Excellent.
Like one tiny water molecule in a very large wave, my own small effort to encourage people to vote for Brian was entirely surplus to requirements.
The boy wonder’s six percent really is quite astonishing. He polled even fewer votes than the stupendously unpopular Mr Blair.
When Cameron told Blair that “he was the future once” he was right. Now, of course, he’s finished (although he appears not to have realised it). It’s hard to even be interested in pointing out the absurdities of what he says any more. Proper enquiries into his behaviour during his time at Number 10, particularly with regard to Iraq, are what I’m waiting for now.
And yet, the boy wonder, as leader of the opposition to a government which is widely reviled, still doesn’t seem to be the future.
(And the Lib Dems are not going any better either. They really need to up their game.)
We can safely assume that the result of the Channel 4 vote demonstrates the unprecedented levels of public dissatisfaction with politicians of all stripes which currently exists in this country. Rather than fighting over the scraps using the same methods (sometimes wrapped up in shiny new packaging), politicians should be attempting to rebuild confidence and genuinely re-engage with the badly disillusioned public.
The opportunity is there. People still care about politics; they just don’t care for scheming politicians.
PS - “Guido” is a tool.