Tuesday 18 July 2017

The forelock vote

For a society which has supposedly achieved equality of opportunity, there have surprisingly many instances where UK political parties have chosen "posh" leaders. The Conservatives have obvious historical examples - Churchill, related to the Dukes of Marlborough, and Lord Home - but even Labour has turned to privately-educated men, notably Tony Blair (Fettes), Gaitskell (Winchester) and Attlee (Haileybury), among the Callaghans and Wilsons. Even Jeremy Corbyn went to a prep. school.

Thatcher and Heath came from well-to-do families at least, so John Major was something of an aberration. It was no surprise that the smooth David Cameron, with connections to minor nobility, should win a contest for the Conservative leadership against David Davis, brought up by a single mother on a council estate. Davis again seems doomed to failure in the election which will follow Mrs May's inevitable fall from the top position, because Jacob Rees-Mogg, member for the 19th century, a rich man who married in to the aristocracy, has clearly signalled his intentions.


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