Headlines are getting curiouser and curiouser as the country falls further down the election rabbit hole. First an Elvis Presley impersonator was brought in to serenade Gordon Brown and Labour Party members in Northamptonshire. The Prime Minister looked suitably embarrassed and was happy to heed the words “A Little Less Conversation” – after a quick shaking of hands, he made a beeline for the door. Next the party was stood up by children’s TV character Peppa Pig at its families manifesto launch. Channel 5 declared: “In the interests of avoiding any controversy or misunderstanding, we have agreed she should not attend.” Peter Mandelson remarked that the decision was “far, far too political [for him] to understand”.
Nick Clegg’s transition from the political periphery to the heart of the general election battle has revealed that he, too, can tap dance to the same old tune of campaign backtracking. Initially he told the world that a coalition with Labour, if the party finished in third place, would be “preposterous”. However, as the Liberal Democrat leader sensed dwindling interest in his party from undecided Labour supporters, he was quick to retreat from this assertion, stating his (increasingly repetitive) mantra: “I’m not the kingmaker, David Cameron’s not the kingmaker, Gordon Brown’s not the kingmaker. I would work with anybody. Of course we’ll talk to each other.”
Sally Bercow discovered this week that retreating from your words is not quite so easy once they have been published in 140 characters on Twitter. The Labour candidate was quick to delete her comment that she had “Been heckled by a couple of smack heads in a stairwell”, but it was to no avail as she was caught out by fellow tweeters who subsequently kicked up a storm.
Gordon Brown delivered the gaffe of the week when he called Rochdale pensioner and widow Gillian Duffy, 66, “a bigot” in front of an open microphone after he had argued with her about pensions, tuition fees, and east European migrants.
Mr Brown was heard blaming his aide Sue Nye for allowing the meeting. He returned to apologise, accompanied by an even bigger press pack than was there for the original encounter.
