April 7, 2021 - 3:06pm

Let Starmer be Starmer: the words, printed in today’s Times, complete whatever the fourth goal of a hat trick is called, according to my old friend Sean Kemp on Twitter today. The West Wing reference — originally Let Bartlet be Bartlet — has now been used about every new Labour leader since Brown.

Pockets of West Wing obsession still remain in Westminster even though the show went off our screens almost 15 years ago. I used to be a sufferer myself. I wanted to be a speechwriter, and even became one, because I wanted to be like Toby Zeigler. I cultivated misanthropy in his honour. I’ve deliberately had a meeting while walking at speed through corridors. I’ve pretended to like ‘smart people who disagree’ with me. I’ve derided the ‘ten word answer’. I’ve used the phrase ‘post hoc ergo propter hoc’ to explain that causation and correlation are not the same thing. And yes, repeatedly, we Clegg advisers said to ourselves: let Nick be Nick.

Tony Blair’s office were, apparently, obsessed with the West Wing. It might seem quite normal that Clinton adviser Gene Spurling — an expert adviser on the show — was invited to dinner with Blair. But No10 apparently also invited John Spencer, the show’s Leo McGarry, to meet the PM’s real life chief of staff Jonathan Powell.

You can tell a lot about someone by which political television show they’re most obsessed with. If you love Yes Minister, you’re sceptical about the motivations of the civil service, and expect a benign level of good natured bumbling from political leaders. You’re probably over 50 and you have no expectation that the government ever accomplishes much but you don’t mind.

If you still love the Thick of It, then you think politicians, voters and the media are the problem. If you love Borgen, then you’re probably a Lib Dem: you want the small party to be in charge just because they’re centrists.

I think the latest crop of special advisers are different. They’re more likely to be fans of the Netflix reboot of House of Cards, Scandal or Designated Survivor. They consider politics a ruthless game played by brilliant backstabbers. Government policy is largely subordinate to playing and winning the game.

Those remaining die-hard West Wing addicts circulating in Westminster think they’re the good guys. They love the show, as Blair’s people did, because it shows good people trying to do the right thing, and mostly succeeding. They have fallen for what I call the Sorkin Delusion: that being clever, articulate and brave is the pathway to success. What they’ve failed to notice is that it’s just comforting narcissism. After all, you only say “Let Starmer be Starmer” or “Let Clegg be Clegg” when you’re losing. You only need the narcissistic props to keep you going, to tell you that doing the right thing will be worth it in the long run, when the short run isn’t working for you.

Politicians who are interested in winning don’t look to Aaron Sorkin for tips. I doubt Boris Johnson could name a single Bartlet quote, except perhaps the ones in Latin. As I learned myself six years ago: the Sorkin Delusion is the preface to defeat.


Polly Mackenzie is Director of Demos, a leading cross-party think tank. She served as Director of Policy to the Deputy Prime Minister from 2010-2015.

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