Tradition tells the humble sandwich was invented in Britain, yet they seem to spell trouble for some British politicians, as the leader of the Conservatives Kemi Badenoch is finding out to her cost.
Lunch is for wimps, says the new leader of Britain’s beleaguered Conservative Party in an apparent bid to sound tough. “What’s decompressing, what’s that? What’s a lunch break? Lunch is for wimps. I have food brought in and I work and eat at the same time. There’s no time… sometimes I get a steak”, she told The Spectator.
Fair enough, lots of people eat at their desks, except Badenoch was about to launch an assault on what is probably the most-eaten British food and to make it worse, give an excuse for that which just comes across as a little odd. Sandwiches are not “real food”, she said, declaring “I will not touch bread if it’s moist”.
Right-oh then.
This wouldn’t be remotely as newsworthy if having a difficult relationship with sandwiches wasn’t already very clearly signposted for anyone with any interest in British politics whatsoever as an absolute minefield for an up-and-coming politician.
Unserious as it may sound, a former leader of the Labour Party during their wilderness years found his time at the top ended not by bad policy or lacklustre performance at the dispatch box — although these were certainly factors — but because he looked like trying to eat a sandwich was going to kill him.
Ed Miliband (pictured, top) has only now, a decade later, made a return to front-line politics. That’s how unforgiving the British public are.
And if this seems petty, remember America feels the same way about their core-national-identity foods. Bill De Blasio will forever be associated with eating a pizza with a knife-and-fork.
The rest of Britain has naturally piled on Badenoch with their takes. The left-wing Prime Minister, presumably thankful to have been handed such an easy way to appear on the side of the common man — in spite of absolutely all evidence to the contrary — has stated the obvious by hailing sandwiches as a Great British Institution and listed his favourite fillings. The former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was such a fan he said they were his favourite meal.
The head of the British Sandwich Association calls the discourse “rubbish” and reminds us “We eat 3.5bn commercially-made sandwiches every year, this is part of our heritage.”
Nigel Farage has declared he loves lunch time, although we all knew that, given being known for having a bottle of wine in the middle of the day is a big part of his personal brand.
If a bit of meat and cheese between two slices of bread does to Kemi Badenoch what it did to Ed Miliband, precedent will well and truly have been set, British politics will have a sandwich test for aspirant Prime Ministers. But is that really such a bad thing?
