I've long been in favour of taking the pantomime out of politics and that's especially the case with the weekly performance that is Prime Minister's Questions. Regardless of whether you support the prime minister or not, there should always be a time allotted during which the prime minister is held accountable for what he's doing in office. That shouldn't be an opportunity for opposing sides of the house to make a mockery of each other.
David Cameron clearly didn't get the memo this week however, as he used this week's PMQ's to make a mockery of the way opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn dresses. For those who somehow missed the biggest news coming out of PMQ's this week, David Cameron confronted Jeremy Corbyn with a handful of insults, saying his mother would advise the Labour leader to "put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem".
Whilst as aforementioned, I completely disagree with the kind of mockery jibes like that make out of Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron does have an incredibly valid point and one that Jeremy Corbyn should listen to if he has any hope of becoming the prime minister of our country.
That's because the British public look for a prime minister who looks like a statesman. We wish for a presidential looking figure to represent the United Kingdom when meeting with leaders of other nations. The United Kingdom is still a leading power in the world and wants to be represented as one. As it stands, no matter what your political preference, the simple matter of the fact is that David Cameron looks like that leader, whilst Jeremy Corbyn does not.
When it comes to fashion, I'm not saying that I expect to see Jeremy Corbyn modelling at London Fashion Week or reading up on how to apply acrylic nails. This is just basic fashion sense. We all know Jeremy Corbyn has a long way to go if he wants the electorate to take him seriously, but he's going to have to start with the way he dresses.
I'll be perfectly honest here, there's very little chance that you're going to find myself supporting Jeremy Corbyn any time soon. However, I would respect him as a politician, like Ed Miliband and Gordon Brown before him a little bit more if he choose to dress like a respectable politician. After all, it's our taxes that pay Jeremy Corbyn and I'd like to see him making the effort.
In all fairness to Jeremy Corbyn, he's incredibly new to the centre stage of British politics and the way he dresses is only one of his many weaknesses. In fact, he can rebuff David Cameron's jibes for as long as he wishes. However, he should know better than anyone that the Conservatives and the media alike are going to continue pulling him apart for as long as he exposes those weaknesses. There's some changes that are only going to come over time for Jeremy Corbyn, but his fashion sense is a change that could be made almost immediately.
I still long for a day when Prime Minister's Questions is actually about holding the leader of our country to account for his actions in government and I don't believe it was the stage for David Cameron to bring up such a topic. However, the fact of the matter still stands and that's how Jeremy Corbyn needs to start dressing like a statesman if he ever wants to stand a chance of becoming our prime minister.