Here’s a challenge for Coffee Housers. Find a speech that beats this one by Culture Secretary Sajid Javid. It is one of the finest speeches from a government minister I have ever read.
The field of fine speeches from government ministers is admittedly not particularly crowded, given ministers often have to give speeches on subjects that are rather technical to audiences who are less interested in wide-ranging or passionate and more interested in the technical details or how long the minister will detain them before the coffee break at the industry conference they are attending. Some ministers make sure the audience knows how thrilled they are to be at the event – my favourite recent burst of enthusiasm came from Patrick McLoughlin, who told the EuroBus Expo in Birmingham in November that ‘it’s a pleasure to be here at EuroBus Expo 2014. One of the highlights of the bus calendar’. Others give the speech knowing that it is supposed to have even less impact than a tree falling in a forest where no-one is present to hear it: a Secretary of State in this government was surprised to receive feedback from Number 10 praising them for absolutely no follow-up to a speech they’d delivered.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in