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24-hour news cuts PMs' shelf-life: UK ex-PM Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown, who was Britain’s prime minster from 2007 to 2010, and was often ill at ease on television, believes the constant focus of 24-hour news has cut the shelf life at the top to a maximum of six years.
Does a prime minister’s constant exposure to the public in the era of 24-hour news help win votes and prolong the tenure at the top? Not really, says one leading politician who should know.
Gordon Brown, who was Britain’s prime minster from 2007 to 2010, and was often ill at ease on television, believes the constant focus of 24-hour news has cut the shelf life at the top to a maximum of six years.
The reason: people get bored with over-exposure and are keen to move on.
Brown’s off-the-cuff comment about a woman who questioned him during a visit to Rochdale before the 2010 election was one of several moments when he came worse off. The lapel mic was on when he got into the car, and his comment that she was a “bigoted woman” was broadcast repeatedly, embarrassing him.
Speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales that concluded on Sunday, Brown said the invasive modern media meant that people got sick of politicians more quickly. “People have got a shelf life in politics. You’ve probably got about six years at the top of politics and that’s about it,” he remarked.
“People get bored, they get fed up with you, they’ve had enough, they’ve seen it all before. It is so invasive and everything about your personal life is investigated – I am fed up with that personally, but that is how it is.
“You’ve got to accept that sometimes your time has passed and you’ve got to be modest enough to accept you’ve had your chance. You can’t have long political careers like Gladstone and Disraeli had in the 19th century.
“There will be no 12 years of Mrs (Margaret) Thatcher again, there’ll be no 10 years of any other prime minister again because of the 24-hour nature of news…people get bored very quickly with the personalities,” he said.
Brown’s session was on Brexit, but his comments on the shelf life of prime ministers got wider traction. He went on to stamp out any prospect of his return to Labour leadership on the swirling issue of Brexit.
Brown, who as prime minister developed a rapport with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh (both had a background in economics), added: “I am not going to try to thrust myself back on to the political stage.”
Robert Walpole had the longest tenure as prime minister in Britain’s political history with nearly 21 years (April 1721 to February 1742), while William Pitt the Younger held the office for 18 years in two tenures between 1783 and 1806.
