Bigotgate: Gordon Brown, Gillian Duffy and THE gaffe of the general election
On occasions I've used political comedy The Thick of It as a point of reference for blogposts.
But isn't real life better than fiction? All general elections need a gaffe, and now we have one of momumental proportions.
Not even Armando Ianucci's creation has yet delivered anything like Brown's gaffe - getting caught on mic calling core Labour voter Gillian Duffy a bigoted woman.
It was like griping comedy sketch that played out live on 24 hour news.
I'd just finishing meeting a contact when I returned a call from a friend who had excitedly been watching the action unfold.
Back in the office I rewatched the gaffe, and what a gaffe.
Watching him with his head in his hands doing the radio interview and mumbling an apology was unbelievable.
Then he was on his way back to see Mrs Duffy. Cue more excitement. The media throng gathered outside waited for him to come out.
He came out, grinned (many of those watching imploring him to stop grinning). He told the reporters he had said sorry and his apology had been accepted.
And then he left to fight for his political life. Meanwhile no doubt the redtops were outbidding each other to buy up Mrs Duffy's story.
The more I think about it, the worse the impact I think this could have. Mrs Duffy is the typical Labour voter that Brown should be reaching out to.
She voiced some very real concerns that voters up and down the country have. He seemingly dealt well with Mrs Duffy's concerns well when he was in public.
Yet once in private in the comfort of his car he let the veneer slip. It will not play well with traditional working class voters who may have already have been feeling like the Labour party has taken their votes for granted.
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David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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"Griping comedy" is right David, please fetch the Rennies, it has upset my constitution something rotten.
It's only THE gaffe of the campaign because the idiot Press haven't found another yet. The Press spend the entire campaign waiting for THE GAFFE. It could be Cameron spilling tea down his shirt, and saying 'Oh Gosh'. "Toff says Gosh" is the story. The Press are substantially responsible for selectively reporting, individualising, and trivialising politics with the effect that thay are undermining the democratic process - for everyone.
Hilarious stuff. The radio interview was a classic.
This episode reminded me that
I recently read part of the Tony Benn diaries , the one covering the 1979 general election, part of his entry for 3 May 1979 (election day) reads " the media have been totally corrupt in this election- trying to make it a media event".
Almost 31 years to the day nothings changed
I'm very very sorry but this is the killer that will loose it all for Gordon and the Labour Party. The whole campaign has moved into a surreal world, and can't be recovered.
Labour lost taking control of Liverpool Council because of Gordon two years ago - announcing his 10p tax increase just before local elections, and the handful of people not casting their vote for Labout as a consequence in critical seats resulted in the Lib Dems retaining control. Gordon is a major liability, and its all too late.....