Jonathan Todd

Michael White and Alan Johnson have this week both compared David Cameron with Harry Flashman. What’s going on? Did they arrive at this conclusion independently? Does Samantha Cameron concur? Having a politician for a husband doubtless puts a strain on marriage and family life. But a politician with a “Flashman tendency” must be doubly difficult. Indeed, it seems the kind of thing that a country ought to be “f*cking warned about” before it has such a chap as its Prime Minister; as Boris Johnson warned Keith Vaz of his not being “very good on details” before he appeared before the Home Affairs Select Committee. Presumably Boris didn’t think the people of London deserving of the same courtesy before they elected him Mayor. So London has a Mayor elected under false premises. White and Johnson are, naturally, keen that the UK doesn’t elect a Prime Minister on the same terms.