Oh for the dignity of a coronation

There was a time in the Conservative party (not so long ago) when a new leader was elected by an inner cabal, and was then feted by the rest of the party as being the best thing since sliced bread and exactly the sort of person that they would have voted for should they have had the opportunity. Now, of course this was wrong and exceptionally undemocratic; but it was at least very dignified and, having watched the contrast between the labour leadership and deputy leadership elections, I sometimes do wonder if there isn't something in that.

Think what you like about Gordon Brown (and it probably isn't a lot worse than what I think), but he has managed to sail through these last few months with dignity and aplomb. Throughout the last few months he has given nothing but the impression of an incredibly serious and able leader; maybe not the sort of person who would play with your children, but certainly the sort of person whom you would trust with your savings.

Contrast this with the deputy leadership contest and the grubby and undignified way in which they have conducted themselves - lynching Margaret Hodge for example, in her attempts to start a discussion (albeit a rather ill-conceived one), and I begin to wonder whether a coronation is so bad after all.

I have no idea if Newsnight did this on purpose (I do think that Newsnight is sometimes rather too enamoured with its kingmaking powers), but the style in which it was conducted reminded me of a bunch of straight-A students trying to get the headmaster to give them the school prize. As there was little difference between the candidates: they are of similar opinions and are broadly high-flyers in the party, it was left for them to make po-faced endorsements of eachother whilst making innuendos behind eachothers' backs and trying to make the boldest-sounding assertions on what are essentially rather banal and mainstream ideas ("we need to re-build trust", "people in this country want to get on with their lives"). Bring back Tony Ben, at least he sang a different tune.