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| Moustache in return to cabinet | Moustache in return to cabinet |
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| By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News Bob Ainsworth would not look out of place on the parade ground | By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News Bob Ainsworth would not look out of place on the parade ground |
| Whether stiffly-waxed and bristling or louche and droopy, there was a time when no self-respecting man-about-town was seen without one. | Whether stiffly-waxed and bristling or louche and droopy, there was a time when no self-respecting man-about-town was seen without one. |
| But the moustache has fallen into tragic disuse in recent years - and nowhere more so than in politics. | But the moustache has fallen into tragic disuse in recent years - and nowhere more so than in politics. |
| Within seconds of being called to high office, once proud wearers of top lip upholstery have swallowed their pride and reached for the razor. So take a bow Labour MP Bob Ainsworth. | Within seconds of being called to high office, once proud wearers of top lip upholstery have swallowed their pride and reached for the razor. So take a bow Labour MP Bob Ainsworth. |
| For the new defence secretary is, as The Sun points out on Wednesday, the first Labour cabinet minister in about 40 years to sport a proper moustache. | For the new defence secretary is, as The Sun points out on Wednesday, the first Labour cabinet minister in about 40 years to sport a proper moustache. |
| Peter Mandelson cut quite a dash in the 1980s | Peter Mandelson cut quite a dash in the 1980s |
| Yes, there have been bearded ministers before - David Blunkett was a self-confessed "hairy lefty" and Frank Dobson could have doubled for Father Christmas. | Yes, there have been bearded ministers before - David Blunkett was a self-confessed "hairy lefty" and Frank Dobson could have doubled for Father Christmas. |
| And Jim Knight, the new employment minister, wears a goatee - but he only attends cabinet. He is not a full cabinet minister. | And Jim Knight, the new employment minister, wears a goatee - but he only attends cabinet. He is not a full cabinet minister. |
| And none have had what you could call an honest-to-goodness soup strainer. | And none have had what you could call an honest-to-goodness soup strainer. |
| Not that Mr Ainsworth has quite the same moustache he had when he first entered the Commons in the early 1990s. | Not that Mr Ainsworth has quite the same moustache he had when he first entered the Commons in the early 1990s. |
| Lip, lip hooray: Geoff Hoon in hairier days | Lip, lip hooray: Geoff Hoon in hairier days |
| A solid, unflashy model served him well on the production line at the Jaguar car plant and in his rise through the tough ranks of trade union activism. | A solid, unflashy model served him well on the production line at the Jaguar car plant and in his rise through the tough ranks of trade union activism. |
| But the moustache he wears now is a more close-cropped, bristling beast, more suited to a regimental sergeant major barking orders on the parade ground than a left wing rabble rouser - entirely in keeping with his new job as defence secretary. | But the moustache he wears now is a more close-cropped, bristling beast, more suited to a regimental sergeant major barking orders on the parade ground than a left wing rabble rouser - entirely in keeping with his new job as defence secretary. |
| And he is showing no sign of shaving the thing off - unlike so many of his current and former colleagues. | |
| Double whammy: Stephen Byers had an unbeatable combination | Double whammy: Stephen Byers had an unbeatable combination |
| Among those to sacrifice their facial hair to the demands of the image mongers are Peter, now Lord, Mandelson who throughout the 1980s sported a moustache. | Among those to sacrifice their facial hair to the demands of the image mongers are Peter, now Lord, Mandelson who throughout the 1980s sported a moustache. |
| But when Mandelson entered the Commons, it had to go. | But when Mandelson entered the Commons, it had to go. |
| One of Mr Ainsworth's predecessors as defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, also shaved off his moustache by the time he was pictured at the cabinet table. | One of Mr Ainsworth's predecessors as defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, also shaved off his moustache by the time he was pictured at the cabinet table. |
| Arch Blairite Stephen Byers once sported the world-beating combination of moustache and glasses - but when he was called to the frontbench one of them had to go. No prizes of guessing which. | Arch Blairite Stephen Byers once sported the world-beating combination of moustache and glasses - but when he was called to the frontbench one of them had to go. No prizes of guessing which. |
| Gerald Nabarro set the standard in the 1960s | Gerald Nabarro set the standard in the 1960s |
| So what is it about a moustache that is so incompatible with high office? Do wearers think it makes them look untrustworthy? Do they fear being labelled a spiv? | So what is it about a moustache that is so incompatible with high office? Do wearers think it makes them look untrustworthy? Do they fear being labelled a spiv? |
| Or - far worse in the pallid world of modern politics - do they fear being seen as a "character"? | Or - far worse in the pallid world of modern politics - do they fear being seen as a "character"? |
| A warning from history comes in the form of Gerald Nabarro - the backbench Conservative MP who cut a swathe through the 1950s and 1960s with his trademark handlebar moustache. | A warning from history comes in the form of Gerald Nabarro - the backbench Conservative MP who cut a swathe through the 1950s and 1960s with his trademark handlebar moustache. |
| It may have been the finest example of facial hair ever to grace the Commons' green benches, but it came to define him. The moustache eclipsed the man - when he passed away, in 1973, it is what he became chiefly remembered for. | It may have been the finest example of facial hair ever to grace the Commons' green benches, but it came to define him. The moustache eclipsed the man - when he passed away, in 1973, it is what he became chiefly remembered for. |
| But at least he is remembered at all - something today's generation of smooth-lipped turncoats might want to bear in mind. | But at least he is remembered at all - something today's generation of smooth-lipped turncoats might want to bear in mind. |
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