As I’ve said before, I’ve mixed feeling about celebs speaking out on their political views – they should certainly be free to do so, but unless they’ve got some particular expertise there’s no reason to give their views extra weight over anyone else.
One person who does know a lot about how politics works is Armando Iannucci, courtesy of the detailed research he has done for his famous satirical shows. He’s taken to the Evening Standard this week to put his case for a Yes vote on Thursday:
In the end, I knew I’d make my decision based on which side had the least headbangingly annoying argument, so I’ve come down on the side of voting Yes. This is mostly as a result of David Cameron’s beautifully foolish argument on Sunday that voting for electoral reform wasn’t British. It was so alarming to see him forget all British history from 1832 onwards, where small but steady electoral reform has been a very, very British thing to do (votes for women, anyone?) that I’m now quite alarmed he has any say over how our children are educated.
Also taking up the cause is Stephen Fry, who – like Dan Snow – has the merit of excellent communication skills. He too features in a film for the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign (though I think Dan Snow’s personality comes through better in his latest film that Stephen Fry’s does in this):
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What Iannucci forgets is that history tells us that Tory leaders see little distinction between “British” and “Tory” interests and oppose nearly all extensions of electoral reform.
Except in the case of Disraeli in 1867 (?), where having defeated Whig/Liberal reforms, the post-election Tory government then enacted most of them, giving rising to the comment that “the Tories caught the Whigs batheing and stole their clothes.”
On second thoughts, wasn’t it another Tory government in 1928 which introduce the “flapper vote”, giving women 21-29 the vote for the first time in Westminster elections?