CRAIG BROWN: Gordon Brown’s got the G-factor – Gravitas!

I was listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 last week when a familiar voice came on, talking about the brutal treatment of women under the current regime in Afghanistan.

It was Gordon Brown, who, younger readers may need reminding, was our last Prime Minister but five.

Solemn and deep, he sounded like a relic from another age. In his brief period as Prime Minister, he had always seemed too dour and uncompromising for modern politics. He smiled only with considerable effort, and had no small talk. He was the opposite of bubbly or biddable: he was the bear who refused to dance.

As I listened to him talk, it occurred to me that history might judge him the last serious person ever to hold high office in Britain. Since his departure, the higher reaches of politics have turned into the lower reaches of showbiz.

The Leader of the Opposition starts welling up on Life Stories with Piers Morgan while, in the audience, his wife wipes away her tears. The Prime Minister, clad in a fashionably tight-fitting, too-short suit, is spotted dancing to Taylor Swift in LA.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a ‘Making Britain Work For Scotland’ rally, organised by Our Scottish Future at Central Hall in Edinburgh in June

Then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown answers audience questions after delivering a speech in Reading Town Hall on March 1, 2010, in Reading

At times, it seems as though the Cabinet is now just the waiting room for Strictly Come Dancing or Celebrity Apprentice. Even poor old Theresa May arrived onstage at the 2018 Tory Party Conference jigging along awkwardly to Abba’s Dancing Queen.

Gordon Brown was flawed in many ways, but, since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he may be the only person left in Britain who can be said to have gravitas. Who else could be guaranteed not to pop up on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! or Celebrity Bake Off?

Here’s a little quiz. See if you can match the frivolity with the senior politician:

Which politician:

Source: Read Full Article