The (Sometimes Flawed) Voice of Democracy Speaks!

Can’t keep a good man down. Or a bad one, come to think of it. Like Silvio Berlusconi, who today becomes Italy's PM for the third time. There is nothing quite like having control of the media and utterly incompetent opponents to help you return to power despite ongoing accusations of corruption now, is there?

I can’t really think of what the British equivalent of Berlusconi would be. I suppose for the Labour party, it might be Peter Hain suddenly emerging from the shadows and taking his perma-tan straight into Number 10. Or maybe Derek Conway – or even Jonathan Aitken – challenging Cameron to the Tory leadership, winning, and at the next election trouncing Brown. Except neither Hain, nor Conway, or Aitken have the control over the media that Berlusconi has. Or even the charisma. Mercifully, Britain doesn’t have an equivalent to Berlusconi. Yet.

Still, as Italy gets used to the 62nd government since World War II, I can’t help but feel that Berlusconi may not be the right politician for that nation. After all, he wasn’t two years ago, and he hasn't radically changed since then…