The untimely deaths of two grand figures of the British left, Mo Mowlam and Robin Cook, prompted several commentators, also of the left, to publicly lament the demise of passion and emotion in British politics. Separately, Jon Norton, Mowlam’s husband, told a newspaper after her death that she had expressed reservations over Gordon Brown’s capacity to lead the country because he “lacked the ability to have an emotional relationship with the people of this country.” It is revealing that Mowlam should so easily embrace the idea that you need warmth and charisma to be prime minister. It also suggests confusion about the place of emotions in politics.
Left-wing politics has always approached emotions with a measure of suspicion, even fear. The politics of class allowed a commitment to solidarity but, overall, the left has placed the highest value on dispassionate debate and reason. The right, on the other hand, even the mainstream right, has always acknowledged the power of sentiment, the appeal of charisma, the draw of emotion and people’s need to identify and belong.
In recent times, the left has begun to reconcile itself to the idea that emotions are intrinsic to mass democratic politics and may not always be a bad thing. But confusion and contradiction remain. On the one hand, for example, people may regret dwindling levels of passion in mainstream politics, and admire politicians who wear their heart and commitment on their sleeves, but most people on the left also recoil from the “fervour, fear and paranoia” that are sometimes described as the roots of American politics. At elections or times of emergency, it is usually the Guardian left that warns us about the manipulation of voters’ emotions or fears and tries to face down populism.
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