We are now just nine months out from the latest possible general election, which means that in a year’s time the House of Commons is going to look very different. Absent a remarkable revival in Tory fortunes – which there is no earthly reason to expect – their current seat total will be at least halved, and we will be fastening our seatbelts for five years or more of Starmerism. This will mean, among other delights, more demographic transformation, further atrophying of state capacity, strict restrictions on free speech, and a racial spoils system in government contracts.
The specific date remains uncertain, which means that all the big TV channels are already making plans for their election night coverage. First to announce their line-up has been Channel 4. The stars of the show will be Rory Stewart, Cathy Newman, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Emily Maitlis, Alastair Campbell, and Clare Balding.
There is something genuinely comical about Channel 4’s conception of what counts as a diverse range of views
I confess I laughed out loud when I saw the list of names. Messrs Guru-Murthy and Campbell occupy more or less identical ground on the progressive left, with possibly the odd cosmetic disagreement about trivial matters. They probably would have argued furiously about Iraq 20 years ago but attitudes to that war have not been a serious dividing line in British politics for a decade and more. Similarly, I think you would be hard-pressed to find any meaningful difference of principle between Maitlis and Newman. All will presumably be delighted by the prospect of a Labour government. All take the liberal-left position on matters of current controversy; immigration and identity, the EU, gender, law and order, and so on. Campbell’s X / Twitter account is a constant stream of anti-Tory invective. Maitlis co-hosts a podcast called The News Agents, which is your indispensable one-stop shop for current Sensibleist groupthink.
Hang on, a defender of Channel 4 might say; even if we accept that all those people hold essentially uniform views, what about Stewart and Balding? Lovely patrician Rory was an MP for Penrith and the Border for the Tories! He has a plummy voice, he comes from the old colonial ruling class and is vaguely connected to the intelligence services. He’s even tried his hand at a bit of modern-day imperialism, as an administrator in Iraq after the 2003 war. Who could be better placed to give some views from a right-wing perspective? The same thought process is presumably in play with the choice of Balding, who – like Stewart – has aristocratic antecedents, and whose father was a successful racehorse trainer. She sounds fairly posh and is a much-loved presenter on TV and radio.
The problem is, of course, that neither Stewart or Balding are really on the right. They have somewhat conservative aesthetics, coming as they do from the rural gentry. In Stewart’s case his overseas exploits – which might or might not have been connected with a certain organisation headquartered next to Vauxhall Bridge – spark memories of the British explorers and adventurers of a past era, planting the Union Jack in far-flung places. Balding’s genuinely delightful Ramblings series on Radio 4 is undoubtedly small-c conservative in its low-key exploration of the British countryside and interest in local stories.
But if we properly consider their attitudes and beliefs in connection with the hotly-contested matters of 2024, it’s hard to see them delivering any serious counterpoint to the other four. Stewart nailed his colours to the Remain mast pretty firmly and has defined himself against what people like him disdainfully refer to as the ‘populist’ right, which is the main current source of dissent from establishment orthodoxy. Balding has made few explicitly political interventions but her involvement with the anti-press freedom group Hacked Off – while understandable given her personal experience – suggests she is comfortable with the broader left strategy of using media regulators, ethics bodies and stakeholder groups to neuter freedom of expression.
Perhaps both will surprise us. Maybe Ms Balding will make an impassioned defence of the Rwanda policy or Brexit, or argue that a Starmer ministry should repeal Section 127 of the Malicious Communications Act. Conceivably, Stewart will repudiate his advocacy for the anti-political pro-establishment citizens’ assemblies, or demand an immigration moratorium. But I wouldn’t put the mortgage on it.
There is something genuinely comical about Channel 4’s conception of what counts as a diverse range of views. One wag noted that the election night team covered the full range of views, ‘from Communist to Blairite’. But that actually overstates the political diversity here – and to be honest a genuine communist might break up the tedious centrist monopoly.
Comments