Carrying on with the political theme this week, I've been thinking about how politicians adjust their accents to better connect with their audiences. Back in the Seventies, Margaret Thatcher had elocution lessons when she was contesting the general election. The objective was not only to lower the tone of her voice, so that she would sound more authoritative (and indeed more masculine) to listeners, but also to modify the cut-glass accent of her youth into a more ordinary, accessible accent that more voters could identify with.
Tony Blair famously had an accent for every occasion, and he would deploy the appropriate voice depending upon which listeners he was currently addressing. Similarly, when Ed Miliband met with Russell Brand this week, he launched into full-blown Mockney, talking about the 'National 'Ealth Service' and telling Russell that 'it ain't gonna be like that, it ain't.' Not quite the enunciation we are accustomed to hearing in the House of Commons during PM's Questions.
Even in the Sixties, it was noted that Harold Wilson would become notably more working class in his speech when talking to the trades unions
This all seems to be a comparatively recent development, and I suppose reflects the modern obsession with politicians projecting the 'right' (i.e. carefully stage-managed) image. Since we're just about to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE day, it might be worth observing that Winston Churchill never seemed to feel the need to adjust his extremely upper-crust accent – and that nobody listening to him then would have expected him to.
Tony Blair famously had an accent for every occasion, and he would deploy the appropriate voice depending upon which listeners he was currently addressing. Similarly, when Ed Miliband met with Russell Brand this week, he launched into full-blown Mockney, talking about the 'National 'Ealth Service' and telling Russell that 'it ain't gonna be like that, it ain't.' Not quite the enunciation we are accustomed to hearing in the House of Commons during PM's Questions.
Even in the Sixties, it was noted that Harold Wilson would become notably more working class in his speech when talking to the trades unions
This all seems to be a comparatively recent development, and I suppose reflects the modern obsession with politicians projecting the 'right' (i.e. carefully stage-managed) image. Since we're just about to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE day, it might be worth observing that Winston Churchill never seemed to feel the need to adjust his extremely upper-crust accent – and that nobody listening to him then would have expected him to.
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