Owen Smith and the ‘thumb of power’

At my granddaughter’s 3rd-birthday party, my daughter and her hubby had arranged a ‘Frozen’ bouncy castle, which went down a storm with all the little kids. I however, couldn’t resist snapping a picture of the villain from the film doing a classic ‘thumb of power‘ pose.

This pose, beloved of Tory PR people and image consultants, is supposed to convey authority while avoiding the supposedly-aggressive appearance of an ordinary finger-point.

Unfortunately, as it’s a completely unnatural gesture, all it really does is expose you as a manufactured persona rather than a genuine person who’s being his or her natural self. As such, the fact that the gesture is beloved of Labour leadership candidate Owen Smith speaks huge volumes about why Jeremy Corbyn’s natural, un-PR-tutored manner and obvious authenticity is inspiring a mass movement, while Smith can’t fill a phone-box for his rallies.

Here are some Tory MPs doing it, followed by an image you might enjoy:

All of which have a simple moral: vote Corbyn.