Month: January 2023

Should Britain Be Concerned About Increasing Celebrity Politics?

Liverpool Politics Hour

By Ceri Jones

This week in the news once again appears a scandal involving Matt Hancock, as it is revealed he was paid £320K for his I’m A Celebrity appearance in 2022. The former health secretary and current MP for West Suffolk is still suspended from the Conservative party – a decision made due to taking time off from parliamentary duties to appear on the show.

Also this month comes the news of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson signing a book deal with HarperCollins, who have refused to reveal how much Johnson was paid. Like Hancock, he is still an MP for his constituency, Uxbridge and South Ruislip. This begs the question- are our politicians giving us too much celebrity at the expense of politics?

According to YouGov, it would seem celebrity politics already poses considerable concern-  52% of the population were opposed to celebrity involvement in politics. Yet somewhat hypocritically, the majority- 63%- said celebrity advocacy would have no bearing either positively or negatively on how they felt about politics. So the data indicates a public opposed to and sceptical about the influence of celebrity politics.

52% of the population were opposed to celebrity involvement in politics.

Celebrities in Politics

The main concern surrounding celebrity politics is simple- the concern that their influence is not ethical, lacks grounding and that celebrities simply aren’t qualified to talk politics.

“Don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything”

Ricky Gervais

There appears to be a digital divide with online influencers- 26% of young people are likely to be supportive of celebrity involvement in politics, compared to 2% of those aged over 65. So it seems celebrities could engage younger voters in politics- statistically the demographic with the lowest voter turnout- which can surely be regarded as a benefit for democracy.

The challenge comes when celebrities present discriminatory, misinformed and harmful views; Andrew Tate’s misogyinistic preaching and Kanye’s racist misinformation are just two viral examples. And according to the data it is the younger population who are most likely to engage with this content and have their views manipulated.

Part-Time Politics?

It’s not only celebrities themselves entering the political sphere which is on the controversial rise; the opposite is also true. The term ‘politician celebrity’ is not new- the idea of politicians trying to become celebrities. But it seems now more than ever that big political actors are joining the trend of personalisation.

The infamous example of course is Matt Hancock, who has undeniably become a celebrity following his reality show appearance. Many people warmed to the disgraced MP during the show (at least until it was revealed how much he earned during its production).

Whilst he is no longer secretary, he is, in theory, still a serving MP with parliamentary duties. Duties which he has undoubtedly neglected for his celebrity pursuits.

But Hancock isn’t the only Conservative MP honing in on the celebrity. It’s been reported that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signed a book deal this month, still also whilst remaining a serving MP. Are our elected representatives able to perform their roles whilst engaging in this celebrity behaviour? It seems increasingly that these celebrity pursuits are the new priority for politicians.

Perhaps there is deeper concerns to be had about this too- the cheapening of politics. Book deals, television appearances, even cameos (Nigel Farage in particular making some questionable videos) take away the sincerity of politics and increase our focus on the person, the scandal and the excitement.

Nigel Farage Cameo

The Round-Up

The public seems generally opposed to the idea of celebrity politics- both celebrity advocates and politicians’ attempts at popularity. Celebrities themselves must tread a careful balance between advocacy and ignorance, a line which the public themselves seems unsure of.

For politicians, the line is much clearer. The public is tired of the gimmicks and a return to ‘serious’ politics is welcome. Ex-politicians appearances on television shows may provide entertainment, but serving politicians need a severe re-evaluation of their priorities.

For more on this story, listen to Beyond the Headlines LIVE on Friday 9:30AM.

To catch-up and listen later, stream all episodes on Spotify- ‘Beyond the Headlines’ on Liverpool Politics Hour.

Qatar 2022: A reflection

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Liverpool Politics Hour

By Matthew Bainbridge

Over the last month, large sections of our radio shows on the Politics Hour have been concerned with the World Cup in Qatar. On our Breakfast Show Beyond the Headlines we first discussed the issue of whether to boycott through a series of expert interviews and reports on the controversies clouding the event, before I then reported on how the world stage of Qatar had given rise to protest of the humanitarian issues plaguing it. Then, Dan Tagg interviewed a friend who had been following his country at the tournament to share his first-hand experiences, albeit with the limited scope of a straight white male. Whilst the Politics Hour’s other show, The Lunch Bunch produced a brilliant interview with Professor Laura McAllister, former Wales international footballer and and current Deputy Chair of the UEFA Women’s Football Committee, the woman at the centre of one of the aforementioned protests when wearing a rainbow bucket hat.

Like many, I have been guilty of getting distracted by the football. Selfishly and largely down to my own privilege I watched a good three quarters of what was certainly the best footballing World Cup of my lifetime. I will have enduring memories of sitting in the Guild of Students watching Japan shock Germany in the group stage with scenes of elation from Japanese international students; Saudi Arabia ending Argentina’s 36 game unbeaten run with a 2-0 win in their opening group game; the brief moment when the world stood still in anticipation of Harry Kane converting a second penalty against France before the English crashed down to earth; Morocco stunning Portugal to become the first African and MENA nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. And then the final, watching the greatest footballer of all time, Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi put in one of the great footballing performances to finally win his nation a World Cup and complete his set of every trophy possible whilst Kylian Mbappe scored the first World Cup Final hattrick since Sir Geoffrey Hurst in 1966.

Qatar as a host nation and FIFA the footballing superstate had faded into insignificance, all the human rights abuses and issues over corruption that had dominated had vanished for many amidst reports of a well-run and successful World Cup, the safest of all time. But then came the trophy lift, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Emir of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani took some of the limelight as they draped a bisht robe over Messi, a symbol of great honour in the Qatari culture reserved for kings and religious leaders. FIFA and Qatar wanted one last reminder of who had hosted this World Cup, but with it brought a flood of emotions, compounded by the BBC’s closing montage: the 6500 migrant workers who had died making this possible, some building the Lusail Stadium where Lionel Messi held the trophy aloft, the LGBTQ supporters who felt it impossible to travel to the tournament for fear of their own safety, the women’s rights issues that our radio show had discussed weeks prior, and less importantly, the shady figure of Infantino symbolising all the corruption that surrounds the modern game. For me and for many others now whenever that image is shared for decades to come obviously symbolising Messi and Argentina’s great achievement, it will also refresh the memory of all those who died needlessly making it possible and those who felt alienated and forgotten in the blatant disregard for their basic right to be. Laura McAllister summarised it well in her interview ‘the underbelly of discrimination and human rights abuses was very close and that was quite apparent whilst we were there’, this underbelly cannot be ignored forever.

So, thank you Qatar and FIFA, you gave us a wonderful display of football as what Arrigo Sacchi described as ‘the most important of the unimportant things in life’ but at what cost?

The interviews and reports mentioned about the World Cup from our radio show are all available to catch up with on Spotify at Liverpool Politics Hour. To get the latest information and news about the show follow us on Twitter @LSRPolitics.

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