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Celebrities reveal their political allegiances, 1991

‘Getting showbiz personalities out of the political closet is rarely easy,’ the Observer commented on 5 May 1991, exploring the awkward relationship between politics and celebrity. It managed to out a few: Gyles Brandreth and Glenda Jackson were standing for election; John Major with his music-hall heritage was PM, and there was a new, albeit muted, hint of glamour to British political life.

The ideological battle lines were clear. ‘Thespians and alternative comedians go for Labour,’ the article declared, with Kinnock-supporting quotes from Ben Elton, Lenny Henry and Prunella Scales. Meanwhile, ‘Sports stars and light entertainment comedians of the old school support the Tories.’ ‘Majorettes’ included Bob Monkhouse, Kenny Everett – and Steve Davis, joking about ‘potting reds’. A Tory spokesperson admitted Thatcher had not helped seduce creatives to the Tory cause: ‘She’s read one book, a Frederick Forsyth thriller, and you’d have thought its interest would wane after six readings.’ There were a few true blue exceptions: William Roache, proudly pictured outside the Rovers Return with Mrs T, and Bill Wyman fretting about 98% tax: ‘I lean politically towards what is best for me.’

On the stump with Brandreth in Chester, TV fame and funny jumpers were seen as a drawback, not an advantage, by local Tories even though he was ‘as wholesome and family oriented as say, a portion of chicken nuggets’. Jackson, meanwhile, deployed ‘resigned contempt or derisive laughter’ when asked if her celebrity impressed voters, declaring: ‘It’s not a popularity contest.’

Would either relish the pantomime drama of parliament if elected? Actor and Labour MP Andrew Faulds (formerly ‘Captain Jet Morgan, hero of Journey into Space’) said: ‘The only benefit to having been an actor is that you know how to phrase and wait for a laugh.’ Andrew Rawnsley, still of this parish, had doubts: ‘When Glenda Jackson is stuck in a debate at 2am addressing two other MPs and a Hansard reporter, she’s going to find it all very different from the RSC.’ Jackson’s 23 subsequent years in parliament suggest she didn’t mind at all.

What do you think?

Written by Emma Beddington

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