Brown's Communication Problem

The contrast in the reaction to Lewis Hamilton's victory between Gordon Brown and David Cameron perfectly illustrates one of the Prime Minister's biggest problems - a total inability to communicate to the public on a 'human' level.

In interviews, with a forced smile he managed to reel off a pre-prepared statement which seemed to take every piece of excitement out the sporting drama that proceeded it. It even needed to be listened to a few times to see if made sense, which I'm not sure if it does:

I, like so many, want to congratulate him on becoming world champion. I think the whole country is thrilled by his exceptional talent. The whole of Britain is now congratulating him, and is proud of the inspirational achievement of Lewis and the McLaren team.

The country may have been thrilled by an exciting, nail-biting race that finished with Lewis Hamilton's victory, but not by his 'exceptional talent' - 'exceptional talent' is not thrilling. The country may be proud of Lewis Hamilton, but not 'of the inspirational achievement of Lewis Hamilton'. My guess would also be that the whole of Britain hasn't yet got Lewis' phone number and so we can not all be 'congratulating him' tonight.

Compare that with David Cameron's quote:

Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton who has made everyone in Britain so very proud. One of the most dramatic races in Formula One history ended with the right man winning the world championship. Lewis is not just the youngest ever winner of the championship he is now officially a British sporting legend and a role model for what you can achieve if you follow your dream.

If the Prime Minister has problems communicating such an easy message following a wonderful sporting success, what hope has he of communicating any sort of coherent vision for the future of this country?