Trump, Zelenskyy and… Jeremy Clarkson: are we entering the era of the celebrity politicians? Eliot Wilson takes a look
When some 13,000 farmers converged on Westminster last month to protest at the government’s plans for inheritance tax on farms, one figure stood out. A tall, lanky man in a knitted cap was hemmed in by cameras and journalists. Jeremy Clarkson, former Top Gear presenter and never short of an opinion, had become the voice of rural England, and he spoke directly to the government.
“Back down. You know, if you make a mistake, we all do, and they have to be big enough to say we made a mistake here, and then back down.”
His appearance prompted calls for him to step into front-line politics, and soon came the inevitable, semi-jocular slogan “Clarkson for PM!” Anyone who scoffs at the notion of a famous TV personality gaining a serious political following should watch the news on 20 January next year when Donald Trump is sworn in for a second term as President of the United States.
We are living in a society in which fame is the highest currency, and the traditional political class has lost most of its credibility. Just ask Volodymyr Zelenskyy: he was a comedian playing an outsider who unexpectedly became President of Ukraine, then he matched the feat in real life. Or think back to the presidency of Ronald Reagan, a middling film star who became a conservative icon.
But it could never happen in Britain, many argue. As George V once remarked, abroad is bloody.
Westminster’s flirtation with celebrity
We have dipped our toe in the celebrity water. The 1992 general election brought grains of stardust to the House of Commons with the election of athlete Sebastian Coe and humourist Gyles Brandreth as Conservative MPs. Pete Wishart of folk rock legends Runrig followed them for the SNP in 2001. More recently, Tracy Brabin moved from a respectable acting career to become a Labour MP and shadow cabinet minister, and is now mayor of West Yorkshire.
There are some practical hurdles. The parliamentary system of the UK imposes a career path which limits the power an individual can wield from a standing start: a well-known figure might become an MP but, without the backing of a major party and a period of apprenticeship, there is no immediate access to the levers of power. Witness the impotence – in executive terms – of Nigel Farage since he finally reached Westminster in July.
The creation of elected mayoralties has changed the calculation. There are now 25 directly elected mayors in England, with more promised by the government, and Sadiq Khan can claim a personal mandate from more than a million voters as mayor of London. Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester won 420,000 votes, while the MP with the country’s largest majority, Dan Carden in Liverpool Walton, only amassed 26,032.
Clarkson’s political assets
Celebrities possess some advantages when it comes to electoral politics. They have an established public image and support base, and are usually adept at managing the media. Voters will usually have formed an idea of what they are like, whether positive or negative, and their name recognition is a given. Importantly, they can present themselves as plain-speaking outsiders, impatient with an ineffectual, introverted and isolated political class, as Reagan did when he stormed to the White House in 1980 carrying 44 of 50 states.
Clarkson is no exception. To say he is not everyone’s cup of tea makes the English Civil War look like a dispute between darjeeling and lapsang souchong, but we live in a polarising age. Forty years in journalism have honed his senses of what appeals and what does not, and he is a skilful communicator. Clarkson’s Farm became Amazon’s most popular original series ever, with more than 5m people watching the first episode of the most recent run.
Britain is not a country of revolutions. It is unlikely we will see a celebrity fundamentally alter the political order, or emulate Italian comedian Beppe Grillo whose Five Star Movement, founded 15 years ago, propelled Giuseppe Conte to the premiership in 2018. But think about the next election for mayor of London in May 2028; imagine a Labour government in mid-term doldrums and a Conservative Party still in rehab after this year’s shattering defeat. Clarkson for mayor? Maybe the job is too townie for him. A figure like Gareth Southgate, Martin Lewis or Stormzy, however, might just have the clout to make politics look suddenly very different.
Jeremy Clarkson once said “you must never have ambition”. But the sage of Chipping Norton also said “being smarter than you look is better than looking smarter than you are”. We should look at celebrities a little more closely, because the future can always surprise us.