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| Scrutinising Nick Clegg's desert island choices | Scrutinising Nick Clegg's desert island choices |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| By Chris Mason Political reporter, BBC News | By Chris Mason Political reporter, BBC News |
| How would you find being stranded on a desert island with little more than a cigarette in hand, David Bowie playing on the CD player and a best-selling Italian novel to read? | How would you find being stranded on a desert island with little more than a cigarette in hand, David Bowie playing on the CD player and a best-selling Italian novel to read? |
| If your name is Nick Clegg, and you are the Deputy Prime Minister, welcome to paradise. | If your name is Nick Clegg, and you are the Deputy Prime Minister, welcome to paradise. |
| Mr Clegg is the latest in a long line of senior politicians to give the highlights of their record collection a spin on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. | Mr Clegg is the latest in a long line of senior politicians to give the highlights of their record collection a spin on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. |
| You might think it would be a welcome relief from the intensity of policy announcements, scrutiny and House of Commons debates. | You might think it would be a welcome relief from the intensity of policy announcements, scrutiny and House of Commons debates. |
| But it is a tricky balancing act when you are a politican and your musical choices will undoubtedly come under scrutiny. The wise choice then is not too cool, but not too tacky; not too highbrow but not too embarrassing. | But it is a tricky balancing act when you are a politican and your musical choices will undoubtedly come under scrutiny. The wise choice then is not too cool, but not too tacky; not too highbrow but not too embarrassing. |
| Perhaps that is why Mr Clegg says he was "up until 2am" picking his records. | Perhaps that is why Mr Clegg says he was "up until 2am" picking his records. |
| After all, you might remember Gordon Brown once told an interviewer he was a fan of the Arctic Monkeys. But what Mr Brown could not remember was the names of any of their songs. | After all, you might remember Gordon Brown once told an interviewer he was a fan of the Arctic Monkeys. But what Mr Brown could not remember was the names of any of their songs. |
| Meanwhile, David Cameron admitted his childhood musical hero was none other than old school comic Benny Hill - he of the 1971 chart topper, Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West). | Meanwhile, David Cameron admitted his childhood musical hero was none other than old school comic Benny Hill - he of the 1971 chart topper, Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West). |
| On the positive side, an appearance on Desert Island Discs is a chance, all being well, for a politican to appear more human and more rounded than an appearance at the Commons despatch box might allow - and to admit to the odd vice. | On the positive side, an appearance on Desert Island Discs is a chance, all being well, for a politican to appear more human and more rounded than an appearance at the Commons despatch box might allow - and to admit to the odd vice. |
| The rules of the programme, which began in 1942, are straightforward. | The rules of the programme, which began in 1942, are straightforward. |
| Each guest has to select eight records they would take with them onto a desert island. They can also take a book, and one inanimate luxury item. | Each guest has to select eight records they would take with them onto a desert island. They can also take a book, and one inanimate luxury item. |
| For Nick Clegg, choosing The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa - a novel about a Sicilian nobleman - as his book of choice appears to have been quite straightforward. | For Nick Clegg, choosing The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa - a novel about a Sicilian nobleman - as his book of choice appears to have been quite straightforward. |
| As for his luxury item, that would be "a stash of cigarettes". | As for his luxury item, that would be "a stash of cigarettes". |
| Politically incorrect, perhaps. But not in the same league as the actor Oliver Reed. He told the programme he would take a blow up woman with him. | Politically incorrect, perhaps. But not in the same league as the actor Oliver Reed. He told the programme he would take a blow up woman with him. |
| Then again, Reed was not deputy prime minister. | Then again, Reed was not deputy prime minister. |
| Mr Clegg also tells the programme about the frantic week of negotiations in May that propelled him from mere leader of the Liberal Democrats to the heart of government. | Mr Clegg also tells the programme about the frantic week of negotiations in May that propelled him from mere leader of the Liberal Democrats to the heart of government. |
| And he admits he had a lot to learn about David Cameron. | And he admits he had a lot to learn about David Cameron. |
| "We didn't know each other, I even texted a friend of mine who knew him a bit. I just sent a single line text and said, 'Can I trust this guy?'" | "We didn't know each other, I even texted a friend of mine who knew him a bit. I just sent a single line text and said, 'Can I trust this guy?'" |
| The answer was yes. | The answer was yes. |
| "There was a genuine view that we both share that no-one had won the election, we were all losers. I sometimes think people have forgotten that." | "There was a genuine view that we both share that no-one had won the election, we were all losers. I sometimes think people have forgotten that." |
| But putting politics aside and returning to pop, there is one song that appears to make Mr Clegg wince a little when he reveals it as one of his choices. | But putting politics aside and returning to pop, there is one song that appears to make Mr Clegg wince a little when he reveals it as one of his choices. |
| There lying on the beach of his mythical desert island - alongside the very considered choices of David Bowie's Life on Mars and The Cross by Prince - would be this year's summer hit Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) by the Columbian singer Shakira. | There lying on the beach of his mythical desert island - alongside the very considered choices of David Bowie's Life on Mars and The Cross by Prince - would be this year's summer hit Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) by the Columbian singer Shakira. |
| The upbeat dance number was the theme to the 2010 World Cup - not an event that left many Englishmen rushing to buy the tournament's official song. | The upbeat dance number was the theme to the 2010 World Cup - not an event that left many Englishmen rushing to buy the tournament's official song. |
| But Nick Clegg's wife Miriam is Spanish - and Spain did win the World Cup. And his youngest son Miguel, he says, absolutely loves it. | But Nick Clegg's wife Miriam is Spanish - and Spain did win the World Cup. And his youngest son Miguel, he says, absolutely loves it. |
| Nick Clegg's Desert Island Discs | |
| 1. Idil Biret playing Chopin's Waltz in A Minor | |
| 2. Johnny Cash and Sunday Morning Coming Down | |
| 3. Prince and The Cross | |
| 4. Cesaria Evora and Petit Pays | |
| 5. Radiohead and Street Spirit | |
| 6. David Bowie and Life on Mars | |
| 7. Shakira and Waka Waka the theme to the 2010 World Cup | |
| 8. Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Major played by Alfred Brendel | |
| Book: The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa | |
| Luxury: A stash of cigarettes | |
| Nick Clegg appears on Desert Island Discs on Sunday 24 October at 1115 BST on BBC Radio 4. | Nick Clegg appears on Desert Island Discs on Sunday 24 October at 1115 BST on BBC Radio 4. |