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12-5-2003 Scotsman Blair tops television poll of the Britons we simply love to hate By GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN MAYBE it was the Cheshire Cat grin, maybe the evangelical zeal and the hectoring voice, or maybe it was just the self-consciously casual choice of clothes, but something about Tony Blair appears to have got under the skin of the British television-watching public. The Prime Minister has finally emulated Margaret Thatcher's achievement of leading the country's most popular political party while simultaneously being the person most people love to hate. A thoroughly unscientific poll of people on Channel 4's website has concluded that Mr Blair is the most unpopular man in Britain. Not that the Prime Minster is likely to lose much sleep about the outcome of the voting, which placed him just ahead of the surgically-enhanced model Jordan, who secured second place, and Lady Thatcher, whose third place showed that some people at least are never prepared to forgive and forget. Those who bothered to vote for their least favourite person are quite likely to be the same people who are so busy watching and voting on reality television shows such as Big Brother that they are unlikely to be able to tear themselves away from the television to cast a vote in an election that matters. And Mr Blair could always take comfort from telling himself that the current Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, features at 99 in the list not because of some underlying popularity among the voters but because he had made so little impact on the electorate. The television company claimed that it received 100,000 votes, although such polls are notoriously vulnerable to interest groups determined to swing the vote to their own advantage and the anti-war lobby could well be partly to blame for Blair's downfall, as votes were cast in February and March, just as the row over the looming war on Iraq reached its peak. The Prime Minister did not take part in the programme on Saturday night, which featured a countdown of the 100 Worst Britons. Others, however, were less reticent. The glamour model Jordan, whose second place ahead of the likes of Neil and Christine Hamilton remained unexplained, felt those who had voted for her would receive their just desserts. On being told the news, she said: "What goes around, comes around - I'm a great believer in that. "So eat your apple pie," she added. Producers of the show helpfully pointed out that she meant to say "humble pie". But unpopularity seems to be something of a family trait in the Blair household, with Cherie Blair also making the list at number 89, nestling between Nigella Lawson and Judith Chalmers. The world of politics accounts for 12 positions in the list, including Blair's spokesman Alastair Campbell, and most of them are figures from the Labour Government. Disgraced former Tory Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine were at 19, while Edwina Currie was at 26. Jade Goody, a finalist on last year's Big Brother show, was voted Britain's fourth most unpopular person in the poll, followed by journalist Martin Bashir at number five. Bashir's position may reflect his controversial interview with pop star Michael Jackson earlier this year. Other top-ten worst Britons included Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell. The Queen was voted in at number ten.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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