Thursday, January 31, 2008

Question Time Review

Tonight's Question Time was predictably dominated by the Derek Conway affair, but there was also a great question from the audience on whether the most revolutionary outcome of the US election would be the election of the first black president, the first woman president, or the oldest president.

Here's my verdict on the how the panel performed.

Shaun Woodward – Quietly impressive, though at times almost too smooth. Said MPs should publish details of staff salaries, and backed Hillary Clinton for the White House. It was not clear whether he was speaking for Gordon Brown on either question. Daringly suggested at the end that both Philip Green and Richard Branson should emulate the Sainsbury family by giving more to charity.

Ken Clarke – A class act, showed once again what a great Prime Minister he would have been. Came out with the best line of the night on the US presidency question – “Ming Campbell and I are going for John McCain" - prompting Amanda Platell to ask whether he was mounting another leadership bid.

John Sessions – Amusing in parts but inconsequential. Looked as if he was reading out his answers.

Amanda Platell – The only one to directly call for Conway’s sacking. Was she settling old Tory scores?

Bonnie Greer – Appeared to be a makeweight but came good on the US question, giving a compelling justification of why as a black woman she was for Hillary and not Obama.

I will be endeavouring to make this review a regular feature of the blog over the coming year.

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you do it in a Hamer Shawcross styleee?!

Paul Linford said...

Who he Kate?

Anonymous said...

I like the idea Paul - people in the political village seem to forget how many people watch question time and how seriously it is taken.
Ken Clarke is a class act but he isn't really bound by his party loyalties anymore, similarly he can say what he thinks safe in the knowledge that he won't be mounting a leadership challenge again.
Thought Woodward was nervous at the start but performed really well on most questions. Calling for full transparency was brave.

I did think Bonnie Greer a bit of a lightweight though, the idea of communities making decisions on stop and search policies was a bit farcical.

septicisle said...

I like Greer - she was especially good when she slapped down the prat in the audience on McDonalds.

Anonymous said...

Hamer Shawcross used to write the British Bullshit Foundation blog, Paul.

The Daily Pundit said...

Ken Clarke is turning into Derek Nimmo.

The Daily Pundit said...

Ken Clarke is turning into Derek Nimmo.