There are many worse politicians than Penny Mordaunt, but there are very few with less substance. During tonight’s election debate, she threatened at certain points to act like an intellectual black hole, sucking any kind of meaning away from the stage.
The most noticeable thing about her was her hair. She’d somehow constructed a vast Thatcherite bouffant. It was hard to take your eyes off it. The haircut was a perfect approximation of the modern Conservative personality. It was neoliberal cosplay: riffing off the Iron Lady’s style, but without any of the intellectual content.
For all of her faults, Thatcher had a meaningful political viewpoint. She had actually read Friedrich Hayek. She was committed to an ideology that she comprehended, could articulate, and was prepared to defend. Mordaunt, on the other hand, has no content whatsoever. There are no propositions to associate with her.
Her most memorable achievement came during the King’s Coronation, when she successfully held a physical object for several minutes. On this basis alone, she was subsequently talked about as a potential prime minister. The standard of talent at the top of the Tory party had degenerated to such a level that merely demonstrating rudimentary physical abilities was a qualification for executive power.
During her last conference speech, she urged delegates to “stand up and fight”, but neglected to mention what it was they were fighting for, and against whom. It was just an endless stream of vacuous gibberish – verbs without nouns to attach themselves to.
Tonight showed what happens when you hand someone like that a senior political position. Mordaunt was placed opposite representatives of the other main parties. Her contribution was limited to hectoring, constant interruption, cynicism and scare-mongering. Once again, she attempted to use the discredited £2,000 figure that Sunak deployed earlier this week. She tried to block Labour’s Angela Rayner from being able to complete a single sentence. She aimed to present Labour as a threat to national security.
It’s now clear that this approach is not simply the product of Sunak’s bad-tempered personality – it is a formal tactic of the Conservative party. Mordaunt’s approach was identical to that of the party leader. But outside of that instruction, she brought no ideas to the table.
She is the perfect representation of her party in its modern incarnation of nothing more than Thatcheresque vibes. It approaches political debates as something to be undermined rather than encouraged. They’ve reduced Thatcher to a haircut and a manner, without any of the substance.
The difference between this debate and the one that preceded it lay with one person: the BBC’s Mishal Husain. As chair, she single-handedly stopped it turning into a vacuous shouting match. She provided a firm hand on the exchanges, giving the conversation room to breathe when needed and moving on when it became too unruly. She repeatedly shut down Mordaunt as she attempted to undermine proceedings.
The result was actually very impressive. There was room for a meaningful exchange of views on topics like taxation, climate change, immigration, and even Europe. Viewers would have finished the programme substantially more informed than they were when they went in. There was an actual democratic purpose to what we saw take place in front of us.
Best of all, Mordaunt was prevented from bulldozing the event into mendaciousness and cynicism. This time, the empty vessel of modern Toryism was unable to disrupt proceedings. And for that, we should all be eternally grateful.
Election 2024
The general election campaign has finished and polling day has seen the Labour Party romp to an impressive win over Rishi Sunak‘s Tories.
Sir Keir Starmer and other party leaders have battled to win votes over six weeks, and i‘s election live blog covered every result as it happened. Tory big beasts from Penny Mordaunt to Grant Shapps saw big losses, while Jeremy Corbyn secured the win in Islington North.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK also outdid expectations with four MPs elected.
But what happens next as Labour win? Follow the i‘s coverage of Starmer’s next moves as the new Prime Minister.