The Prime Minister telling the BBC that he won’t run for a third term isn’t the most interesting thing that happened yesterday.
The most interesting thing that happened yesterday was Prime Minister, David Cameron, answering a straight question, with a straight answer. It wasn’t as if the thumb screws were on; he and the BBC’s James Landale, both kitted out in ‘everyman style’ mufti seemed perfectly relaxed in the kitchen – which seems to be the vogue backdrop for recent political discourse.
Landale didn’t even appear to be working up to a shot as he asked the sort of question that Cameron might be expected to face during a constituency coffee morning in uber-Conservative-loyal, Chipping Norton. The fact that he actually answered it was the real bombshell. Jeremy Paxman, Andrew Neil and Andrew Marr must all be crying into their cornflakes this morning after years of trying to get similar TV alchemy.
Usually the script allows for the question but interview tradition gives the politician in question every available exit – repetition, changing the subject, answering a yes or no prompt with a ‘maybe’.
The disappointing thing about Landale’s line was that it appeared to fizzle out shortly afterwards. Couldn’t he see that he was at the top of a potential roll? Did he go into some kind of shock or panic? I’d like to think that under similar circumstances I’d have jumped on the bandwagon before it rolled out of town. I’d have asked him more straight questions – just to see if he’d answer them as well.
What a shame James Landale didn’t ask Cameron that given his own assessment of an economy recovered, whether he’d start to replace the public services that he’s been responsible for removing. Landale could have upgraded what may effectively be his ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ to ‘living legend’ status amongst the commentators.
The focus, of course, is now about whether Cameron has or hasn’t made a gaffe. Oddly, the people that he’s most annoyed are his party-political opponents, who are now labelling him as arrogant (because he hasn’t yet won a second term). Yet, in other ways, how can they continue to argue the arrogant line with a man who sees the need for a new leader with a fresh perspective?
I don’t think that this was necessarily a prepared moment; when Cameron had planned to drop any comment about not running for a third term. Although it will surely prove a divisive subject for the Conservative party, it’s a stroke of ‘in the moment’ political genius. After all, he and the other party leaders appear to want to avoid providing any clarity on policy or opinion regarding real issues, whilst maintaining their own exposure levels. Cameron has got the whole country talking about the political system without mentioning anything at all of substance or relevance to the General Election, which is a mere six weeks away.
The media response has been wonderfully confused. The shock has sent ripples through every commentator and analyst. If Cameron has in fact, mistakenly answered a straight question with a straight answer, he appears to have got away with it.
