AIBU or is my DS1? Would you elect an obvious 'working class' man as primeminster or leaser of the opposition?

[CreamolaFoamless]

Talking to DS1 about the budget (younger dc's not interested) and for some reason we got onto Ed Milliband. Anyhoo I said 'I keep forgetting Ed Milliband is labour, he looks and sounds like a conservative'

Long and short of it is DS1 thinks he wouldn't respect anyone to run the country unless they had a certain 'well-spoken' accent ???

Have a given birth to some sort of Neo-Nazi Capitalist or is this a common shared thought?

@ll31 it is interesting

@trixie , do you teach in the uk ? I left school in 1987 and have a higer in Modern Studies

No, because I don't vote in the UK anymore.

But if I did, sure, why not?!

Jeesh, was trying to think of some non-public school accented politicians and can't come up with any. There were more in the past I think, maybe because of the grammar schools.

Problem now is the media. Politicians have to be able to hold their own in public debates which tends to lawyer types who are mostly public schooled.

Alan Johnson was a good politican, can't remember why he stepped down.

The few non-public school educated politicians today tend to go to State schools in catchment areas with extremely high house prices, which is basically the same as private schooling just by another name.

I think several Labour MPs went to Holland Park, the "socialist Eton" which is in an area where the average house price is over a million pounds.

Working men are the leasers the opposition, or at least the Unions are paying for most of it anyways.

LOL at Tony Benn being working class!!

i would love a wo(man) on the street to become PM. Someone straight up and passionate, who has lived a normal life and understands the struggles of us proles.

Well spoken as in speaks well but couldn't care less about BBC accent.

Good point, by the other posters. There's a difference between an insistence on upper-class elocution, and wanting politicians to be able to express themselves well.

TBH they all look/sound the same these days all Uni educated chruned out as clones . its all tonys fault before him they looked different spoke differently and you could tell who was who ,

trixie its a social subject taught in scottish schools they study social policies,war etc , google SQA/ modern studies , im sure there is an equivelant taught in english/welsh/NI schools ,

Mind you, what constitutes eloquence in public speaking? Tony Blair used to start every sentence with "look", didn't he? Became quite grating.

So he's Scottish? Exactly what accent is he talking about?

Ah, TB was trying out his man of the people schtick with all the "look" and "y'know"s. They all say "look" these days.

I second Alan Johnson being a good mp

This country needs a political party that speaks for the working majority, that used to be the Labour party, how did it all go so wrong ?

Well, it worked, so maybe we didn't care about well-spoken accents in the 1990's?

Maybe it's a Yoof thing of today?

John Major certainly didn't have typical 'posh' background.

Hes' Scottish? What sort of accent does he have?

I hope he's not equating RP with intelligence - that would be a dreadful mistake.

Does he look down on all regional accents? Can he articulate what he means by "well spoken"?

He's not alone by a long chalk though. Massive, massive accent snobbery in this country. Pretty much ill thought out and knee jerk imo.

Is it 18 yo "trying to piss off mother" chat, do you think?

I really liked Gordon Brown and he was from relatively humble beginnings

He was the son of CofS minister that and the labour party are about as establishment as you can get in Scotland

Wasn't John Smith the son of a headmaster?

I liked him, anyway and i agree with mrswarthog, if it is who i think it is, he works hard for social justice and has gained respect because of that.

OP- what your DS has stated, isn't totally incorrect about all idols and leaders, most people want them to be a certain way.

He will be learning about how the media is used to suit an agenda and how imagary is important, most people just aren't aware of it.

I was pretty right wing as a teenager, it can be a time when you have very strong views, so I'd hope it was just that. However what he said was really quite bigoted, and I would be rather concerned about that. Why do you think he's decided that working class people are stupid and over emotional? Does he go to a private school with no-one he thinks is from a working class background?

I'd argue that in recent times John Major was the closest we've had to a working class prone minister, grew up quite poor in Brixton.

As a rule, I wouldn't piss on a Tory if they were on fire, but could never bring myself to dislike him, he seemed decent and likable. (making the beast with two backs with Edwina Curry aside)

Doesn't matter one iota to me what 'class' anyone is, whether running the country or not. What matters is their attitude and if running the country, their politics.