This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/15/samantha-cameron-grounded-conservatives
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| If Samantha Cameron's 'grounded', I'm the next Tory PM | If Samantha Cameron's 'grounded', I'm the next Tory PM |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The newspapers are beginning to ask themselves what tricks David Cameron has up his sleevies when it comes to the challenge of winning the next election. What, or more accurately, who, could his secret weapon, his electoral trident, be? Andy Coulson said in an interview in March that she was "one of the few people to see to the heart of the matter", while in a bizarre article in Monday's Times (paywalled link) Tim Montgomerie claims that her role is to keep the PM "grounded and in touch with what voters are thinking". It's clear that it's a woman, and a woman who is keen to shift the Tory narrative away from its championing of marriage and terror of feckless single mothers in a more "voter-friendly" direction, a tactic that is also known as "appealing to the ladies". | The newspapers are beginning to ask themselves what tricks David Cameron has up his sleevies when it comes to the challenge of winning the next election. What, or more accurately, who, could his secret weapon, his electoral trident, be? Andy Coulson said in an interview in March that she was "one of the few people to see to the heart of the matter", while in a bizarre article in Monday's Times (paywalled link) Tim Montgomerie claims that her role is to keep the PM "grounded and in touch with what voters are thinking". It's clear that it's a woman, and a woman who is keen to shift the Tory narrative away from its championing of marriage and terror of feckless single mothers in a more "voter-friendly" direction, a tactic that is also known as "appealing to the ladies". |
| All of this sounds vaguely promising, but before you start thinking that we have a new female political powerhouse on our hands, I should probably inform you that this secret weapon is Samantha Cameron née Sheffield, aristocrat, Smythson-peddler, woman of the people and, most importantly, David Cameron's wife. | All of this sounds vaguely promising, but before you start thinking that we have a new female political powerhouse on our hands, I should probably inform you that this secret weapon is Samantha Cameron née Sheffield, aristocrat, Smythson-peddler, woman of the people and, most importantly, David Cameron's wife. |
| They used to say, in times of yore, that behind every man was a great woman. Similar to the French saying "je suis le patron, mais c'est ma femme qui commande", it is a maxim that has become increasingly irrelevant in this age of pesky modern ideals such as female emancipation and financial autonomy. The notion that a man exerts control in the outside world and the woman exerts control on him casts Sam Cam as some kind of spamdroid-puppeteering Lady Macbeth, sinisterly whispering titbits in his ear about Syria while lightly grasping his balls. It is a notion as fustily conservative as the party itself. Just look at the vocabulary used in columns such as Montgomerie's. She's "bent her husband's ear" about the humanitarian crisis in Syria, she "charms those she meets", and she turns the Daily Mail's Paul Dacre – a man whose morning meetings are referred to as "the Vagina Monologues" because of the frequency with which he employs the term "cunt" – into a simpering, fluffy man-kitten, lying spread eagled on his back in anticipation of the longed-for belly tickle. As many will recognise, the terminology is not so far removed from the language which Tories used to describe the late Margaret Thatcher. | |
| Except, of course, Maggie was elected and Sam Cam hasn't been. She could, it's argued, be a contender along the lines of Hillary Clinton, but she's better "behind the scenes" (Montgomerie again). In this sense, she is a Michelle. Not Obama, mom-in-chief and political campaigner extraordinaire, but Michelle from Destiny's Child. Doomed to be eclipsed by Beyoncé. | Except, of course, Maggie was elected and Sam Cam hasn't been. She could, it's argued, be a contender along the lines of Hillary Clinton, but she's better "behind the scenes" (Montgomerie again). In this sense, she is a Michelle. Not Obama, mom-in-chief and political campaigner extraordinaire, but Michelle from Destiny's Child. Doomed to be eclipsed by Beyoncé. |
| No matter, because she listens to 6 Music as much as she does Radio 4. Surely a woman exposed to the Super Furry Animals with such regularity cannot be all bad? Indeed, much like venereal-disease killing disinfectant, Sam Cam is, according to Coulson, "badly needed in the trenches", especially since Cameron has been forbidden to like the Smiths. The problem is, Sam Cam isn't so much disinfectant as she is an extra thick pair of long johns and, as everyone knows, with genital issues, covering the problem up doesn't make it go away. I don't expect Sam Cam to flush out the Tory's syphilitic bigotry so much as eclipse it, like some kind of Smythson-carrying supermoon. As Mrs Macbeth said: "look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't." | No matter, because she listens to 6 Music as much as she does Radio 4. Surely a woman exposed to the Super Furry Animals with such regularity cannot be all bad? Indeed, much like venereal-disease killing disinfectant, Sam Cam is, according to Coulson, "badly needed in the trenches", especially since Cameron has been forbidden to like the Smiths. The problem is, Sam Cam isn't so much disinfectant as she is an extra thick pair of long johns and, as everyone knows, with genital issues, covering the problem up doesn't make it go away. I don't expect Sam Cam to flush out the Tory's syphilitic bigotry so much as eclipse it, like some kind of Smythson-carrying supermoon. As Mrs Macbeth said: "look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't." |
| There are cold adders lurking in the grass, ladies, and we would be wise to heed their presence. I address members of my own gender in particular because they are the marked-out targets for this spin campaign. A woman, albeit an unelected one, pulling the strings may well increase the Conservatives' ratings in the polls — we do like to see a broad in control, after all. One of our own kind (except, y'know, for the aristocratic ties and the MASSIVE HOUSE). Those of us perhaps less susceptible to TB (Tory brainwashing) might suggest a widespread cull in favour of more bloody women in the bloody cabinet. But then Boris Johnson and William Hague's joint cluelessness last week shows that the Conservatives don't actually like women that much. If they did, they'd give pay them a cheque, not lip service. | There are cold adders lurking in the grass, ladies, and we would be wise to heed their presence. I address members of my own gender in particular because they are the marked-out targets for this spin campaign. A woman, albeit an unelected one, pulling the strings may well increase the Conservatives' ratings in the polls — we do like to see a broad in control, after all. One of our own kind (except, y'know, for the aristocratic ties and the MASSIVE HOUSE). Those of us perhaps less susceptible to TB (Tory brainwashing) might suggest a widespread cull in favour of more bloody women in the bloody cabinet. But then Boris Johnson and William Hague's joint cluelessness last week shows that the Conservatives don't actually like women that much. If they did, they'd give pay them a cheque, not lip service. |
| Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett co-founded and edits feminist blog The Vagenda |