The Big Brother election – modern politics in microcosm.

The latest script line in C4’s Big Brother has been to vote for a “Head of House” to select a leader from amongst the housemates.

The candidates were Luke, Dale, and Darnell.

Dale comes across as a bit thick, and not particularly articulate, but he is honest and leads from the front when it comes to performing in the weekly house tasks which are carried out to allow the housemates to win privileges and luxury food.

Darnell is a street wise, deep thinking, brutally honest (he calls a spade a spade) former US resident who is respected by most of his housemates.

Luke is everyone’s favourite. Only 20 years old, he is a politics undergraduate, with the unusual career ambition to enter politics as a speech writer and backroom party activist. A nerdy, comical, Mr. Bean like character, yet extremely articulate, and likeable, he spends most of his time floating around the house ingratiating himself with all of the other housemates and spreading rumours and gossip from one housemate to another to fuel their paranoia and cause trouble.

I was convinced that two faced, back stabbing, friend to everyone, Luke would win, because he possesses all the skills required to succeed in modern party politics, but I was wrong.

Plain speaking Darnell was elected as House Leader by a landslide.

Assuming the Big Brother inmates are a representative selection of society (a big assumption), maybe ten years of Tony Blair and New Labour has taught us all to be deeply suspicious of smooth, slick, wordsmiths lying to us to get our votes.

Let’s hope that Conservative Central Office have been monitoring the Big Brother elections. David Cameron might learn that a bit of conviction might not be such a bad thing for the next general election.