The House Magazine*, partenaire britannique de La Revue Parlementaire.
By Sam Macrory, Political correspondent of The House Magazine
Last day England's footballers kicked off their World Cup campaign,
and the prime minister will have reached for a patriotic brand
of beer from the Downing Street fridge and breathed a gargantuan
sigh of relief. For - in peacetime at least - a national sporting
occasion can raise the spirits of a country like no other event.
The prime minister knows that for a period of two to five weeks,
depending on how well Sven-Goran Eriksson's men fare, the media
and the people will be diverted from his troubles at Westminster
and focused on events in Germany.
It is an age-old political trick. Harold Wilson quickly associated
himself with England's 1966 World Cup glory, relishing his poll-boost
by boasting: "England only wins the World Cup under Labour."
In his memoirs, Denis Healey - Labour's defence secretary in
1970 - admitted that football was a major consideration in the
timing of polling day that year. "In June the England football
team would be defending its possession of the World Cup in Mexico,"
wrote Healey.
"Wilson was worried that, if it were defeated just before polling
day, the government would suffer; but on learning that the match
would be shown on television very late at night, he decided
to ignore it." It was a fateful decision, with the quarter-final
defeat to West Germany playing its part in a surprise Conservative
election victory.
A combination of footballing failures and rampaging hooliganism
meant politicians kept their distance for the next two decades,
but the Nick Hornby/ Rupert Murdoch-inspired gentrification
of the game in the 1990s prompted MPs of all parties to jostle
for footballing credibility. Conservative prime minister John
Major claimed to be a regular at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge,
but his attempts to bask in the glory of England's Euro '96
semi-final run was scuppered by the sight of one Cool Britannia-loving
Tony Blair in the Wembley crowd.
Blair, at least, has some sort of footballing credentials to
call on, not least the 27 consecutive headers he shared with
the former Newcastle United manager, Kevin Keegan. But the voting
public will always retain a degree of cynicism towards politicians'
claims of a youth spent on the terraces. In a recent poll, a
fifth of all Labour MPs claimed that playing or watching football
was their favourite pastime, but whether many could tell the
difference between a John Terry and a Boris Johnson defensive
challenge is questionable.
As for the Tories, "supporting" Liverpool didn't suit Michael
Howard's particular way with vowels, and it remains to be seen
why, or indeed for how long, David Cameron has been a regular
at Villa Park. Maybe Prince William - Aston Villa's other celebrity
fan - knows the answer? In his quest for ordinariness Blair
embraced the beautiful game, and now Dave - with a St George's
flag on his bike - is looking to capture the common touch. Both
want the popularity boost that sporting success can bestow on
politicians - and given the government's recent troubles, it
is a chance that even a half-fit Blair will be desperate to
tuck away.
* The House Magazine a été créé en 1976 par un groupe de
députés afin de traiter et débattre de l'ordre du jour parlementaire
de manière impartiale mais incisive. Il est depuis 30 ans l'hebdomadaire
des parlementaires britanniques.
Imprimer