If they weren’t politicians we might feel sorry for them

This Green and Surprisingly Pleasant Land examines the hazards facing political leaders on holiday

Did you enjoy your summer holiday? It’s a simple question for most people but not for politicians for whom holiday taking is a fraught business.

They even face criticism when they fail to take a break. This is something that Keir Starmer, Britain’s new  prime minister, discovered within weeks of assuming office after cancelling holiday plans to deal with an ugly outbreak of rioting.

Learned articles were conjoured up criticizing his decision to stay off the beach. Some ‘experts’ seemed to believe that he is headed for burnout, others confidently predicted that his decision-making capabilities were undermined by a reluctance to relax while yet others thought he was being sanctimonious in thwarting a family holiday.

Sir Keir’s deputy, Angela Rayner, may well have done something worse by going off to Spain where she was pictured enjoying herself at a disco. Who the hell does she think she is, eh? Not only is she perpetually criticized for her working class origins but has now committed the offense of shamelessly having fun… in Ibiza no less.

Holidays for politicians are located in the no win zone. Margaret Thatcher, the so called ‘Iron Lady’, hated holidays but was persuaded to take them to prove she was perfectly ‘normal’. Harold Wilson, one of her predecessors, made a point of modest holidaying in the Isles of Scilly which helped enhance his ‘man of the people’ image although it also became the subject of much satire. Boris Johnson was beyond satire as an avid holiday goer who got his rich friends to pay for his swanning around, furnishing yet more evidence of his inherent dodginess.

Holidays for politicians are always scrutinized with much fervor. Woe betides a political leader thinking of following in the footsteps of David Cameron with his embarrassing chillaxing photo ops. Even poor old Teressa May, determinedly setting out on a seemingly grim hiking expedition, did herself no favours as the bleakness of her adventure appeared to confirm a reputation for humourlessness.

The bottom line is that it is almost impossible for a leading politician to get holidays right, not least because of the sneaking suspicion that there is something improper about going away while so many important things are happening. For the avoidance of doubt, it is worth stressing that important things are always happening.

It is equally important to stress that holidays provide confirmation of the fundamental truth that those who aspire to high office cannot expect to lead normal lives.

High office comes with high levels of scrutiny and high expectations of impeccable behaviour. The more the office holders try to behave in a normal way, the more they are suspected of pretentiousness.

Gone are the ‘good old days’ when Winston Churchill could publicly puff on ostentatiously large cigars and quaff champagne while the rest of the country was subject to rationing during a savage world war.

And gone are the days when the media were sufficiently deferential and would heed instructions to give leaders privacy when they were not performing public duties.

Transparency is a good thing, and the accountability of the rulers is to be applauded but the nagging suspicion lurks that the pendulum has swung too far. I remain unconvinced, for example, of the earth shattering importance of what David Cameron wore on holiday yet it filled many column inches.

I equally suspect that in an age of instant communication, it is daft to accuse political leaders of being missing in action because they are not sitting by the office phone. If anything happens they can be reached wherever they are.

But there is little sympathy for these folk who have chosen to hold the top jobs in government. They have willingly or otherwise volunteered to be under a degree of scrutiny that is as uncomfortable as it is predictable.

Personally, I would give them more of a break than they are normally accorded by a voracious media. Arguably they should be allowed some media timeout, but this is unlikely to happen. So, they have no choice about developing thicker skins and possibly a sharper sense of humour to shrug off petty criticism.

As for me, I have not had an exotic summer holiday because no sane person in Britain, unfettered by the limitations of school holidays, would chose to go away in the few months when there is the prospect of decent weather at home. Deepest and darkest winter is quite another matter. Thankfully no one gives a monkey’s where I go when the cold sets in; suffice to say that the Isles of Scilly are not in my plans.