There are only two occasions in my life where I have had lengthy, in-depth debates about where grown adults should sit. One was planning my wedding. The other was PMQs.
The reason for the second discussion was raised by Nick Clegg on Newsnight yesterday when he said that sitting mutely next to David Cameron at the weekly session may have been his worst mistake (for clarity I suspect he meant in presentational terms rather than his biggest mistake in government as a whole).
There is quite a bit of validity to this point. Most people still get their political news from the evening broadcasts, and every Wednesday they saw Clegg sitting silently next to Cameron while he defended policies that the Lib Dems were sometimes uncomfortable with, or had actually managed to change from their original versions. He had to be silent as Labour MPs attacked him, silent as Cameron merrily took credit for Lib Dem policies like raising the income tax threshold.
And, as people never tired of saying, he looked glum. Clegg was always extraordinarily cheerful given the pressure he was operating under, but he is cursed with a face that looks miserable when resting. The result was a weekly deluge of analysis from body language experts in the press gallery who seemed to believe every frown could be studied for signs of internal debate. He looks grumpy? Clearly miserable and wants to quit. He’s heckled a Labour attack on him? Another sign that a Lib-Lab deal can’t happen. He’s sitting there silently, probably wondering where to take his kids at the weekend? Only days left as leader.
So we discussed whether he should shift seats, but that didn’t necessarily solve any of the problems. It would have looked like an attempt to run away from responsibility in government. Labour would have had great fun – ‘moving five seats down doesn’t mean people will forget his betrayal…’ Meanwhile, those Wednesday news bulletins would have been devoid of any reminder that the Lib Dems were actually in government at all.
The fact is that when the public has made a decision about a politician, they will find the appropriate symbolism somewhere. Ed Miliband’s bacon sandwich moment somehow encapsulated the general sense that he just didn’t feel like Prime Minister material; meanwhile the actual Prime Minister was photographed getting changed out of his swimming trunks underneath a Mickey Mouse towel and everybody laughs and moves on. The issue wasn’t where Clegg sat; it was that in those early months in coalition we were (understandably, but with hindsight possibly wrongly) more concerned with presenting an image of cohesive government than with highlighting our many differences. Once people had made their minds up about that, Clegg could have sat next to Dennis Skinner while wearing a ‘Never Kissed a Tory’ t-shirt and it probably wouldn’t have made any difference.
Sean Kemp is the former deputy head of political press for the coalition government and head of political communications for the Liberal Democrats.
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