Why THAT Mumsnet question takes the biscuit

I’m going to ask you a very difficult and politically sensitive question…

Here goes…what biscuit do you like? There. How do you deal with that one PR guru?

We live in strange times when politicians have to hold a focus group before they can commit to naming (and perhaps shaming?) their favourite biscuit.

Never mind Monday night’s portrayals of Momentum, the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn, let’s get to the heart of what matters folks…what biscuit does Jezza like? Come on JC, I double-dare you to come clean.

Spoiler…shortbread.

Now, I’m not going to go into bias in the media, we all know roughly which sides the press lean towards but it is interesting that the Telegraph has branded Jeremy “miserable” and just as interesting to consider the motives behind his selection.

You see, he may well like shortbread, but he feels a need to qualify it with a point about the evil’s of sugar. He appears to not be trying to impress by being too flashy or forced (contrast this to other politician’s answers) but even here he is playing to his image.

There’s been some awfully cringeworthy replies to this, with politicians desperate to align themselves to ideologies (Owen Smith and Garribaldi) or towing the the party line (Nicola Sturgeon’s profound love for Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer). Gordon Brown apparently needed 24 hours to compose an answer before unveiling “anything with a bit of chocolate” (you can imagine the angst).

Across the bench, David Cameron was nodding respectfully at the middle class Waitrose vote when he conjured images of dinner parties with “oatcakes, butter and cheese” whilst Boris was concerned his answer of chocolate digestives was perhaps not European enough (how times change). Only Nick Clegg appeared to be behaving normally but again, was that contrived? Who knows anymore?!

This is all good fun but it really does outline how far the politicians and their spin-doctors are prepared to go to keep on message. It also shows the incredible power of the new media such as Mumsnet and how it needs to be considered.

Right, I’m off for a coffee (black) and a biscuit. Does Ryvita with avocado count? Or is that opening up the Jaffa Cakes debate all over again?

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