Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. Photo credit: altogetherfool
The background
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is odds-on to to survive the ongoing cabinet reshuffle but there’s little doubting that, as underlined by a Guardian/ICM poll last week, he is the most unpopular politician in Britain right now.
In fact, Osborne, chief architect of the Coalition’s austerity programme, discovered just how unpopular he is when he attended the London 2012 Paralympic Games on 2 September to dish out men’s T38 400 metres medals. Osborne may have been looking to get a little bounce from a association with the feel-good vibes of the Paralympics but it didn’t work out that way. He was loudly booed by many in the 80,000-capacity stadium and grimaced uncomfortably.
Go on Cameron, reshuffle Osborne out the door and you might get a little cheer
— Jonathan Haynes (@JonathanHaynes) September 4, 2012
Unsurprising but remarkable
“It was hardly a surprise – least of all to the man himself – that Osborne is unpopular,” acknowledged Isabel Hardman at Coffee House, The Spectator‘s rolling politics blog, who reminded that the “the polls are clear that he is the ‘weak link’ in the government at the moment.” “But the booing this evening was still quite remarkable for anyone actually in the stadium. Don’t forget that this was at an event that is about sport, not politics,” said Hardman.
No virtue
“I suspect some Tories will try to make a virtue of Osborne’s reception, arguing that it demonstrates his ability to take ‘tough decisions’. But they’d be wrong to,” insisted George Eaton at The Staggers, The New Statesman‘s rolling politics blog, who said “There’s a difference between decisions that are seen as ‘tough’ but fair (‘it’s hurting but it’s working’), and those that, in addition to being seen as tough, are also seen as wrong.”
Paralympics are toxic for this government
Isabel Hardman at Coffee House, The Spectator‘s rolling politics blog argued that the Paralympics are “particularly toxic for this government. It’s not just the row over the decision to allow Atos to sponsor the games and plaster its logo all over the venues. It’s also that the government is replacing the disability living allowance with the personal independence payment, a controversial move which disability rights campaigners argue aims to save money rather than better equip disabled people. Cutting benefits for disabled people is not a popular move at any time, but now Paralympians themselves have criticised the introduction of the PIP.”
Paralympics spectators don’t hate all politicians
“It has to be all the more painful, considering the cheers that Gordon Brown got at the Paralympic swimming,” suggested left-wing blog Political Scrapbook.
More in Paralympics
- Top four shocks of the London 2012 Paralympics – so far
- Paralympics continue Olympic cheer
- Buzz builds for Paralympics
- Paralympics opening ceremony is a storm of ideas
