If I was Red Ed I’ll do a Thatcher!

Posted 2 Dec 2010 by Walaa Idris

Red Ed PMQs

Yesterday I had a wonderful first time sit down meeting with a Prime Lady, we knew each other for years but the most we managed was the occasional exchange of pleasantries at meetings and events. At the Party Conference this year, we decided to do a coffee and have a proper catch up. So we meet yesterday and spend two hours talking, the best two hours and properly the most eyes opening meeting I had with one person in a very, very long time.

One of the things we touched on was women in public live and of course Margret Thatcher came up. I did not, until yesterday know that The Iron Lady had voice lessons in her early years as leader of the Conservative Party – and what a great and clever move. I have to admit, even though I have no idea what her untrained voice sounded like (one of the drawbacks of not growing up in Britain), but the finished product is very impressive.

Listening to Red Ed speak has always been a chore for me, and now that he is the Leader of the Opposition and therefore speaks to us more, I find it a real shame that keeping up with what he says is an uphill struggle and I know I am not alone in feeling that way. Every time he speaks it takes me a few seconds to get over the sound of his voice then a couple more to catch up and understand what I’ve missed and before long I’m half way behind. So why doesn’t he just take some voice coaching or elocution lessons. Judging by Baroness Thatcher’s outcome, it’ll do wonders to his speech making.

And before anyone blows a gasket! My intentions are not at all to have a dig at Mr. Miliband. Public speaking is an art and like most gifts for some people it comes naturally but for many it’s a craft they develop and prefect by learning it and train at bettering it and in Red Ed’s case he needs to do both.

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1 comment(s)

Steve Foley

Steve Foley
4 Dec, 19:00

Winston Churchill had a strange voice yet most Conservatives laud him and he surely was the man we needed in the dark days of WW2. I am no fan of Ted Heath but his plummy “eow” tones did not stop him becoming PM, and Hague with that annoying voice of his led the Conservative Party, albeit to the second worst General Election result since 1997, yet he is now Foreign Secretary.

I get a feeling that the Conservatives are afraid of Ed Milliband (I refuse to call him Red Ed) and are thus looking for ways to belittle him such as the shape of his face, or the sound of his voice. What next, the clothes he wears, the car he drives?

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