First Time Voters Question Time on BBC3

On Wednesday I watched First Time Voters Question Time on BBC3

The programme was chaired by Dermot O’Leary, and included a panel of three celebrities and three politicians, with an audience of about one hundred – all presumably first time voters.

First time voters are given prominence because of the cultural idea (most famously belted out by George Benson and later Whitney Houston) that “the children are our future”. This is a flawed premise because “the children” will never actually inherit the future - as soon as they stop being children they will be immediately forced to acknowledge that a new tranche of children are the future. These in turn will be told they are “the future” until the moment they are forced to realise they are not.

Thus politicians are able to justify all kinds of shaky policies on the grounds that they are doing it “for our children”.

Anyway, the programme followed the usual Question Time format. Various questions were asked and answered. Nothing controversial was raised.

The most interesting aspect of the programme was the chairing by Dermot O’Leary. Slightly overlarge head, heavy jaw, smart suit but with the cuffs riding up. He is able to project a likeable personality, mainly through the use of his voice and facial expressions (although if you look into his biography, he is not an obviously likeable person, and some elements I would consider unlikeable).

At one point a panel member (I think it was David Lammy MP but it might have been one of the others) referred to Dermot O’Leary reverentially as “a celebrity” – but what exactly is he celebrated for, and who is celebrating him?

David Lammy also spoke disparagingly about “old white men in suits” then immediately made the exception “not you Dermot” (despite Dermot O’Leary’s qualification for the term).

Dermot O’Leary often referred to himself during the show (“I watch Question Time every week”) which is something David Dimbleby would never do. He scowled when he wanted to appear serious and sucked his lower lip quasi-adolescently whenever looking towards the singer Jamelia. He complemented David Lammy on use of the expression “mash-up” (although teenage argot is a minefield for anyone over the age of twenty).

I don’t mean to be negative but on the whole I felt the programme was a bit like Dr Johnson’s dog walking on hind legs – when you’ve seen it once you don’t particularly want to see it again.