The Mercow Mystery

As if to reinforce my previous post, Daniel Finkelstein in The Times today (pay wall) includes part of a transcript of a recent focus group of middle-class women in the north west:

Moderator: Labour elected a new leader after the general election defeat. How is he doing?

Woman 1: Who is the Labour leader?

Woman 2 (instantly): Martin Bell.

Woman 3: No, it’s George Osborne.

Moderator: Er, no it isn’t.

An awkward period of puzzled silence while the members of the group try to come up with the name.

Moderator: I’ll give you a clue, his surname begins with M.

Woman 4 (confidently): Mercow.

Remember this when reading any commentary about the finer points of the reshuffle.

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• Toocleverbyhalf

  With 974 days to go until the next election, frankly my dear who gives a damn?!

  Fixed Parliaments – another Lib Dem “bright idea” with unintended consequences. Without any chance of a sudden contest, the mid-term period is even duller now than it used to be…

• purpledragonalso

  The picture is Mrs Mercow?