Can the west wing work in the west end?
6:09pm Wednesday, 5th September 2007
Radio 4 is airing a new drama called 'Number 10' this Friday, which is sort of trying to do for UK politics what 'The West Wing' did for America. The really interesting question is whether the British public can swallow a positive portrayal of politicians as morally serious people who are genuinely trying to do their best in challenging circumstances.
I hope the drama's author, Jonathan Myerson, can pull it off. He's done a nice prospect article that includes this unfashionable, but rather wonderful quote from one of Blair's advisors:
I’ve never lived in a council flat. I had a privileged upbringing, private school, best university. And that’s precisely why I think it is my duty to use all that education to fight to make life better for everyone else.
Unsurprisingly, Guido Fawkes thinks this is all a load of tosh - politics and morality just don't mix, they're all out for themselves etc etc. Guido's funnier than Myerson, but I know whose world I'd prefer to live in.
I hope the drama's author, Jonathan Myerson, can pull it off. He's done a nice prospect article that includes this unfashionable, but rather wonderful quote from one of Blair's advisors:
I’ve never lived in a council flat. I had a privileged upbringing, private school, best university. And that’s precisely why I think it is my duty to use all that education to fight to make life better for everyone else.
Unsurprisingly, Guido Fawkes thinks this is all a load of tosh - politics and morality just don't mix, they're all out for themselves etc etc. Guido's funnier than Myerson, but I know whose world I'd prefer to live in.
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