Over at Three Line Whip, Jame Kirkup muses whether Peter Mandelson has taken a vow never to give a dull interview. Certainly, from a hack’s point of view, Mandelson makes for great copy. But it is Mandelson who is getting the most out of this relationship at the moment.
I suspect that Mandelson realised he was going to be covered in exhaustive detail on his return whether he liked it or not. His skill has been to turn this coverage to his advantage by using the press’s fascination with him to get his message across. He also understands how the 24:7 nature of media coverage and the rise of the blogs has changed the game; note how this morning’s political news cycle has been dominated by his breakfast-time media appearances and how he has got bloggers wondering whether David Cameron might be in trouble with the law. Mandelson has been greatly aided in his spinning by just how spooked by him the Tories are; they tend to retreat whenever he wades into the fray.
The idea floated in the Telegraph today of bringing Ken Clarke back to shadow Mandelson is a good one. Clarke’s hail fellow well met demeanour would be a perfect contrast to Mandelson’s calculation. Those who worry about Clarke’s pro-Europeanism getting the better of him, should take comfort from his recent dismissal of the idea of joining the Euro any time soon.
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