WHO am I?
According to my biographer, I’m a rabble-rouser, regarded by many as a self-obsessed ‘clown’ with a strangely ‘scattershot, impulsive style’ . . .
. . . a self-loving egomaniac, a narcissist with a taste for self-dramatisation and a ‘characteristic fondness for superlatives’ whose manic speeches and penchant for taking all-or-nothing risks raised questions about any capacity for self-control, or even sanity. . .
. . . a shrewd politician with a ‘keen eye for the strengths and weaknesses of other people and an ability to ‘instantaneously analyse and exploit situations.’
Added to that, I am famed among colleagues, for a ‘bottomless mendacity’ magnified by a slick propaganda machine using the latest technology to spread the message. A former colleague described me as ‘a person so thoroughly untruthful as to no longer recognise the difference between lies and truth’.
My pluses? Effective as an orator and actor, adept at assuming various masks and feeding off the energy of audiences. Able to conceal prejudice beneath a ‘mask of moderation’ when trying to win the support of socially liberal middle classes; a specialist in big, theatrical meetings with spectacular elements which might have been borrowed from the circus; the content of speeches adapted to suit the tastes of lower-middle-class, nationalist-conservative, ethnic-chauvinist listeners, peppered with coarse phrases and put-downs of hecklers, playing to crowds’ fears and resentments by claiming to be the visionary leader who could restore law and order.
My main themes? A messianic but vague promise to return the nation to a new era of greatness, harking back to a golden age while painting the present day in darker hues with decline and decay wherever one looks.
Minuses? A repertoire of mantra-like phrases consisting largely of ‘accusations, vows of revenge and promises for the future’, a determination that propaganda must appeal to the emotions rather than the reasoning powers of the audience.
The question you must answer is a simple one: which of the following political figures does the biographer’s description fit most aptly?
a) Tony Blair
b) Napoleon Bonaparte
c) Margaret Thatcher
d) Donald Trump
e) Nigel Farage
f) Adolf Hitler
You will find the answer HERE.
