The John Griff Column: Cometh the hour – Cummings the man?

My own choice would ‘The West Wing’, originally written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin. Running from 1999 to 2006, it starred Martin Sheen as the single minded, but flawed Democratic President Josiah (Jed) Bartlet from his inauguration to the end of his second term as POTUS iat 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The series took in a huge variety of sidebar stories involving the lives and times of the staffers in the West Wing of the White House. It also reflected real world events, including the 9/11 attacks on the American nation as well as the death of principal actor John Spencer who played the pivotal Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry. His death as a real person was covered on the show not only as a tribute to the actor, but also to reflect life in the political world too, and the vacuum such events bring with them. The arc of the entire seven season story managed to pull off the impressive trick of referencing back each week’s then current one hour episode to previous events as far back as Season 1, Episode 1 with details which seemed to be of miniscule significance in the first place, but which would come to be hugely important later. It meant that for casual viewers there was something fleet of foot to watch in the schedule, and for dedicated fans, something to keep them hooked – or, like me – bingeing entire series. I have every episode on DVD – I became a regular at the Virgin Megastore in the Grosvenor Centre on season release day. I grew to love Sorkin’s writing (he’s a Democrat himself, but paradoxically, Sheen is a Republican and is on record as saying that he would not champion the causes and policies that his character does on screen) and the way he could weave the stories of personal lives into global politics. In many ways it was ‘The West Wing’ which first got me interested in any kind of political awareness – perhaps it was the human compassion of the show’s undertow which did it. When first transmitted here I was 35, living on my own and completely disengaged from the politics of the UK - Tony Blair was Prime Minister - William Hague was Leader of the Opposition.

‘The West Wing’ changed all that, starting with the very first storyline that POTUS had fallen off his bike whilst out cycling. In short succession we then met his family and team (for one you could easily have transposed the other) learned of everyone’s foibles, strengths and weaknesses, and all against the context of world events. It didn’t matter that it was political life viewed through the personal prism of Aaron Sorkin’s view – it brought politics into the context of the people behind the policies, rather than the kind of soundbite-made-for-the-media kind of politics which we see all too often not only here at home, but abroad and around the world now. It engaged me and also challenged me as to my own reaction to each week’s episodic topic for consideration. I certainly didn’t always agree with the way the fictional administration grappled with what fell in its lap, but somehow the individuals involved always seemed to come out having tried to do the right thing.

It is perhaps this point which I think we could do with more of. In one WW storyline a Republican is brought into the Democrat fold to assist at the White House. Female, blonde and opinionated, her character goes through every stereotypically based political attack you could imagine – and from both sides of the political divide. This goes on until finally White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (played brilliantly by Bradley Whitford) verbally bangs heads together by stating that every politican – and their team members – starts out by simply wanting to make the world a better, safer, more prosperous place. It is a stark, but simple point, well made within the context of the episode. And naive though it might appear, that’s surely not a bad point to make. Of course, the sage saying is that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely – but that’s a different challenge for the script writers.

It's a point that wasn’t lost on me when, a few days ago, I read a speculative press piece about the possible return before Christmas of none other than Dominic Cummings to the political fray – with his own ‘Startup Party’. A fan of neither Rishi Sunak nor Sir Keir Starmer, it would appear that Cummings sees an opening for a radically new approach to politics here and the opportunity of sweeping to power by 2028 and one general election between now and then. Could it happen?

In a word, yes, it could. At the time it was said of now broadcaster and former commodity broker Nigel Farage when he founded UKIP in 1993. Although never an MP, he certainly helped change the trajectory of British politics through Brexit and was famously championed at the time by the then President Donald Trump as a man with ‘a lot to offer’. Whether either holds true now remains to be seen.

If Dominic Cummings IS to be resurgent, will he be the front man, or the one at the back pulling the strings? And what level of support would his party need to hold sway in such politically ragged times as these? With a low turnout and a manifesto aimed at the young and the disenfranchised, a new start by StartUp could indeed offer an alternative, particularly if it sites its inaugural conference at Barnard Castle. It’s almost the script for a political drama already.

I wonder if Aaron Sorkin is sharpening his pen and dusting off his keyboard…