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| Errant kids used to embarrass MPs – now parents are the problem | Errant kids used to embarrass MPs – now parents are the problem |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Family trouble used to be more straightforward in politics. A kinsman or woman embarrassing the leader? That invariably meant one of the kids had been getting drunk, joining street demos or denouncing mum and dad as brutes or hypocrites. | Family trouble used to be more straightforward in politics. A kinsman or woman embarrassing the leader? That invariably meant one of the kids had been getting drunk, joining street demos or denouncing mum and dad as brutes or hypocrites. |
| But the flipside of politicians getting younger – a trend in Britain – inevitably means they are vulnerable to undermining from a quarter that didn’t much trouble Gladstone or Disraeli: the parents. | But the flipside of politicians getting younger – a trend in Britain – inevitably means they are vulnerable to undermining from a quarter that didn’t much trouble Gladstone or Disraeli: the parents. |
| David Cameron’s oldies seem to have been a plus on the accounts book until recently. True, there were occasional questions about his father’s stockbroking career and the tax-sheltering arrangements that went with that fading way of life. George Osborne’s upscale family decor firm has attracted similar attention. | |
| But Cameron Sr’s position was protected by the fact that he overcame physical disability, deformed lower limbs, to make his way in the world. When he died there were sympathetic accounts. | But Cameron Sr’s position was protected by the fact that he overcame physical disability, deformed lower limbs, to make his way in the world. When he died there were sympathetic accounts. |
| So far so good. But the PM’s mother, Mary, a member of the landed gentry class and thought to be the embodiment of discreet Home Counties propriety, a JP no less, recently indicated concern for the NHS. An aunt weighed in against cuts in west Oxfordshire where David is the local MP, barely overshadowed by such neighbours as Rebekah Brooks and Jeremy Clarkson. | So far so good. But the PM’s mother, Mary, a member of the landed gentry class and thought to be the embodiment of discreet Home Counties propriety, a JP no less, recently indicated concern for the NHS. An aunt weighed in against cuts in west Oxfordshire where David is the local MP, barely overshadowed by such neighbours as Rebekah Brooks and Jeremy Clarkson. |
| Related: PMQs verdict: what would Cameron's mother say to Corbyn? | Related: PMQs verdict: what would Cameron's mother say to Corbyn? |
| Hence Wednesday’s unseemly spat at PMQs with a backbench Labour heckle about Mary. Cameron had one of his Flashman moments in respect of Jeremy Corbyn’s sartorial compromises with power: he’s much smarter than he used to be, but still too scruffy to be acceptable for tea at Peasemarsh in West Berks where young David grew up behind high hedges and the family is still a pillar of the parish council. | Hence Wednesday’s unseemly spat at PMQs with a backbench Labour heckle about Mary. Cameron had one of his Flashman moments in respect of Jeremy Corbyn’s sartorial compromises with power: he’s much smarter than he used to be, but still too scruffy to be acceptable for tea at Peasemarsh in West Berks where young David grew up behind high hedges and the family is still a pillar of the parish council. |
| Does it matter? Voters’ actions will vary, some thinking Corbyn had it coming, others that Cameron is a cad. Naomi Corbyn’s role as “a peace campaigner” will please or horrify according to taste. Most political parents are shadowy or idealised figures, deployed to sustain a suitable narrative. | Does it matter? Voters’ actions will vary, some thinking Corbyn had it coming, others that Cameron is a cad. Naomi Corbyn’s role as “a peace campaigner” will please or horrify according to taste. Most political parents are shadowy or idealised figures, deployed to sustain a suitable narrative. |
| Thus Gordon Brown’s wee high minded occupants of the Presbyterian manse, Tony Blair’s upwardly mobile (wouldn’t you know?), Margaret Thatcher’s dad a provincial Tory alderman and shopkeeper (her mum airbrushed out). With Thatcher coming to power at 53, her children, twins Carol and Mark, were old enough to be potential trouble. And they were, especially spoiled favourite Mark. Money and mercenaries apart, his disappearance in a Sahara motor race prompted a rare public show of tears from mum. Unfortunately he was found. | Thus Gordon Brown’s wee high minded occupants of the Presbyterian manse, Tony Blair’s upwardly mobile (wouldn’t you know?), Margaret Thatcher’s dad a provincial Tory alderman and shopkeeper (her mum airbrushed out). With Thatcher coming to power at 53, her children, twins Carol and Mark, were old enough to be potential trouble. And they were, especially spoiled favourite Mark. Money and mercenaries apart, his disappearance in a Sahara motor race prompted a rare public show of tears from mum. Unfortunately he was found. |
| It’s natural for many children to rebel in any family. Some follow dad into politics, some run a mile or join the other side. The Gladstones, Macmillans, Wedgwood Benns, Churchills and other mostly aristocratic families produced generations of cabinet members, though democratic politics also throw up dynasties. Those Bushes are in their third generation at the top, the Kennedys are still around. But Ken Clarke’s kids identified with CND and other rebellious causes in their youth. Geoffrey and Elsbeth Howe’s lawyer nephew, Martin, is a vocal Eurosceptic. Hilary Benn was elected on the slogan “a Benn but not a Bennite.” | It’s natural for many children to rebel in any family. Some follow dad into politics, some run a mile or join the other side. The Gladstones, Macmillans, Wedgwood Benns, Churchills and other mostly aristocratic families produced generations of cabinet members, though democratic politics also throw up dynasties. Those Bushes are in their third generation at the top, the Kennedys are still around. But Ken Clarke’s kids identified with CND and other rebellious causes in their youth. Geoffrey and Elsbeth Howe’s lawyer nephew, Martin, is a vocal Eurosceptic. Hilary Benn was elected on the slogan “a Benn but not a Bennite.” |
| Nothing wrong with that, if adds a bit of spice. | Nothing wrong with that, if adds a bit of spice. |
| Ron and Nancy Reagan’s kids gave him heaps of trouble of the rebellious kind, made for TV, though Reagan was privately more permissive than his public conservatism suggested. Jimmy Carter’s “good ole boy” brother Billy was a nightmare, even popping off to deal with Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi in his prime. Drink and drugs troubled president George HW Bush’s eldest son, George W, who proved a disappointment in later life. He became president, admittedly more than his virtuous brother Jeb now seems likely to manage. | Ron and Nancy Reagan’s kids gave him heaps of trouble of the rebellious kind, made for TV, though Reagan was privately more permissive than his public conservatism suggested. Jimmy Carter’s “good ole boy” brother Billy was a nightmare, even popping off to deal with Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi in his prime. Drink and drugs troubled president George HW Bush’s eldest son, George W, who proved a disappointment in later life. He became president, admittedly more than his virtuous brother Jeb now seems likely to manage. |
| As so often, these adventures are put into the shade by the Churchills.Winston Churchill’s parents were trouble in a different way. His father, Lord Randolph, was a former chancellor of exchequer who pushed his luck, was politically ruined and died, possibly of the clap, in 1895. His son’s spotted bowties were a gesture of filial piety. His widow, the New York heiress Jenny Jerome was not much given to piety, later marrying a man not much older than her son. When she died the newspaper billboards proclaimed the passing of “Lady Randy”. | As so often, these adventures are put into the shade by the Churchills.Winston Churchill’s parents were trouble in a different way. His father, Lord Randolph, was a former chancellor of exchequer who pushed his luck, was politically ruined and died, possibly of the clap, in 1895. His son’s spotted bowties were a gesture of filial piety. His widow, the New York heiress Jenny Jerome was not much given to piety, later marrying a man not much older than her son. When she died the newspaper billboards proclaimed the passing of “Lady Randy”. |
| Of Winston’s four children, only the youngest, Mary, mother of MP Nicholas Soames, caused her parents little grief. Neglected by his own parents Winston spoiled his only son, Randolph, thereby ruining his headstrong, arrogant temper. He stood for parliament against the Tory candidate without consulting dad whose loyalty to family did him harm. Drink damaged Churchill’s offspring in ways that bounced off the old man who once said “ I have taken more out of drink than it has taken out of me.” | Of Winston’s four children, only the youngest, Mary, mother of MP Nicholas Soames, caused her parents little grief. Neglected by his own parents Winston spoiled his only son, Randolph, thereby ruining his headstrong, arrogant temper. He stood for parliament against the Tory candidate without consulting dad whose loyalty to family did him harm. Drink damaged Churchill’s offspring in ways that bounced off the old man who once said “ I have taken more out of drink than it has taken out of me.” |
| Randolph barely survived his father. When he was operated on for cancer, his friend, the novelist Evelyn Waugh, remarked: “How clever of the doctors; they have operated on Randolph and removed the only part of him that was not malignant.” | Randolph barely survived his father. When he was operated on for cancer, his friend, the novelist Evelyn Waugh, remarked: “How clever of the doctors; they have operated on Randolph and removed the only part of him that was not malignant.” |
| Cameron can think himself lucky that he will be safely out of elective politics before his children seriously hit their teens. After all Jeremy Corbyn’s son is already a backroom political operative. One to watch. | Cameron can think himself lucky that he will be safely out of elective politics before his children seriously hit their teens. After all Jeremy Corbyn’s son is already a backroom political operative. One to watch. |