Shades of John McCain’s political blunder in this Times piece:
So how many properties do you own? “I own a house in North Kensington which you’ve been to and my house in the constituency in Oxfordshire and that is, as far as I know, all I have.”
A house in Cornwall? “No, that is, Samantha used to have a timeshare in South Devon but she doesn’t any more.” And there isn’t a fourth? “I don’t think so – not that I can think of.” Please don’t say, “Not that I can think of.” “You might be… Samantha owns a field in Scunthorpe but she doesn’t own a house…”
The rest of the interview was punctuated with Cameron’s nagging anxiety about how this exchange was going to make him sound: “I was wondering how that will come across as a soundbite”; “‘Not that I can think of’ makes me sound… I am really worried about that…”; “I am still thinking about this house thing”; and his parting shot was: “Do not make me sound like a prat for not knowing how many houses I’ve got.”
There seems to be something about David Cameron and the number four, what with him changing his clothes four times before lunch.
3 Comments
You are not very good with numbers. That was 4 different outfits, so only 3 changes of clothing.
But Dave seems like the kind of chap to wear jimjams and possibly a little pointy cap to bed, so he’d have changed out of those first!
Question: Why did Andrew McKay MP go on stage in Bracknell not wearing a belt? Was he so filled with hubris that he didn’t consider he needed the support?
McKay always was a bit of a dandy. I came across him shortly after he won the Stetchford byelection. He came to my university to give a talk, and I went along out of curiosity (being a member of the Labour Party at the time). And there he was. Long hair, very neatly coiffed, and possibly dyed blonde; cowboy boots and flares; a white suit with lapels so wide they nearly clipped his arms; and a garishly loud tie. When someone gets themselves up as a trendy while spouting social authoritarian poison (he wanted to bring back hanging, among other things), one finds the dress sense creepy.
As for the other half of the golden Tory couple, to see and hear Julie Kirkbride MP you would think she had been head girl of Roedean or Benenden. Yet in reality she attended a grammar school in West Yorkshire. She is not as posh as she seems.