Thaksin/Blair v Brown/Surayud - the X factor Olympics!

Greetings from England!

It is refreshing, albeit not very surpising, to return home to find that political intrigue and dog fighting is as alive and well here as it is in Thailand.

When I arrived at my parents' house last night I watched the TV news through a jet lag induced sleep fog.  Imagine if you will.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the despatch box.  Wooden, uncharismatic and lacking impact with the common voter.  Struggling to make his mark after the long reign of the media savvy Tony Blair. Not really succeeding and starting to come under fire for a flagging economy.  Government services not delivering what the public expect.  Now being accused of plagiarisng the policy ideas of the opposition. 

Hmmm, hold on a minute.  Sounds rather like Thailand if you ask me.  Replace the word Brown with Surayud and Blair with Thaksin, move the section on policy up the page a bit, and you have a neat match.

It just shows that in modern politics personality is king.  A corrupt or ineffective government can come under fire.  But a leader with the X factor can keep it afloat with the voting public (subject to military intervention, of course).

Blair managed to keep the Labour party in front despite of a widely unpopular policy towards Iraq.  Thaksin had a government full of money grabbing Ministers but could still turn a parliamentary majority quicker than you could say Mahasarakham. 

My judgement is that Brown and Surayud just don't have it, the X factor that is.  Brown looks like he is trying to clean the back of his teeth with his tongue every time he speaks and Suruyud looks like Garfield on sleeping pills.

So with Thai elections happening in December and UK elections happening any time in the next two years, get set for the X factor Olympics!

The UK has a host of young turks coming through the Labour and Conservative ranks who might take centre stage one day and bring the p'zazz back into politics. David Cameron, for example, and the cloyingly on message Miliband brothers.

Are there any Thai candidates with the X factor, ready to steal centre stage when the elections take place in December? Suggestions on a post-card to the UK please...

(Oh, and my personal opinion is that Sonthi would need a serious work over from a spin doctor and fashion consultant - green is so not you darling - before considering his entry into the X factor arena.)