Hugh, Actually: In U.K. Campaign, Voters Find an Actor at the Door
Celebrities have long thrown the weight of their public personas behind political candidates. But Hugh Grant has been one of the most active ahead of Britain’s general election
It’s Christmas Eve. The doorbell rings. Hugh Grant is standing on your doorstep. “I just need you,” he stutters. “On some…state business.”
It’s an iconic scene from the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually, but it’s also a reality for British families right now (octopus-themed Christmas pageants be damned!). The 59-year-old actor has taken to knocking on people’s doors in the lead-up to the U.K.’s December 12 general election, asking them to cast their vote for candidates who want to revoke Brexit, the U.K.’s commitment to leaving the European Union.
The election—said to be one of the most contentious in modern U.K. history—is the country’s first since the 1920s to take place in December, and there is concern that freezing weather could cool voter enthusiasm.
‘BREXIT, ACTUALLY:’ UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson parodied Love Actually as a major election looms.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson parodied the 2003 rom-com “Love Actually” in an ad asking people to vote Conservative in support of Brexit.In Johnson’s remake of the iconic Christmas carol singers scene, the British prime minister imitates the character Mark (Andrew Lincoln), holding up cards telling a woman in the scene — mimicking the film’s Juliet (Keira Knightly) — that her vote has never been more important.“The other guy could win…” the card reads. “So you have a choice to make between a working majority or another gridlocked hung parliament arguing about Brexit.”
It’s a remarkable ad (down to the parody of the famous Bob Dylan cue-card tossing gag in 1965’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”) and Johnson’s completely non-threatening mannerisms. I suspect enterprising American political campaigns on both sides of the aisle will copy aspects of it in future elections ...
Using freedom of speech to tell Australians how to think
No doubt there are nations which seek to dominate others by increasingly sophisticated means ("Challenge to democracy to counter Russia, China", December 10). Australia needs to clean up its own backyard, however, before donning the mantle of victimhood. It was Australia which spied on Timor-Leste in a most underhanded effort to dominate and gain. In doing this we gave the world an object lesson in the use of Andrew Hastie's list of "diplomacy, media, investment flows, infrastructure development, intellectual property theft and espionage".
Alas, this was not "to push back against authoritarian states" but to swindle an impoverished neighbour. We are now subverting our own judicial processes by invoking secrecy and "national security" to cover our misdeeds as we pursue the two Australian patriots who acted with integrity in the affair: "Witness K" and his lawyer Bernard Collaery. I call on Mr Hastie to work towards the discontinuance of the cases against these men. Ignoring Australia's greed, deceit, corruption and revenge in this matter badly weakens the argument for vigilance against others. - Susan Connelly, Lakemba
