[Ketman]

Early on I nearly - nearly - posted a comment about Freddie, where I called him "Boris Johnson's stupider little brother". Then I deleted it, thinking I'd wait a while and see if first impressions were misleading. I'm glad I did, because things have changed quite a bit since then. That doesn't mean I no longer find him annoying. He's as annoying as he ever was. Part of the problem is something he isn't really responsible for. He just happened to be born into the privileged classes, and can't help revealing that every time he opens his mouth. Unfortunately he's also embraced peace and love, and there's no combination worse than that. A hippified toff is just about at the limits of toleration. I met one once who was startlingly similar in both looks and mannerisms to Freddie. I think his name was Nick. There was a three-way conversation at the bar of a pub, about what songs we liked. Nick said, "I like that one that goes, you know..."dum dum the equestrian statue/ marching up and down the square/ di didi di didi di didi...." Except he pronounced it "squah". He went through an entire verse of this dismal *****ing novelty song (by Jonathan King, I think it was), bobbing his body backwards and forwards and making conducting gestures with his arms. I was smiling at him encouragingly, thinking "I'd really quite like to shove a grand piano up your arse". The only thing that stopped me at least kicking him in the gonads was the fact that I was six foot tall, and he was about four feet ten. It would have got me a bad name.

The difference with Freddie is that I can now see a bit of steel underneath. He's taken some stick from the other HMs, who seem to have chosen him by unspoken agreement as the automatic choice for nomination. Siavash was probably right when he suggested a lot of them were people who just wanted their noms to pass unnoticed. When a dozen senators are brandishing knives, no one remembers who delivered the fatal thrust that killed Caesar. Nomming Freddie is a good way of just merging with the crowd. But Freddie has stood up very well. When his name's called out, he's downcast, as you'd expect, but he hasn't retreated into self-pity or tried to keep his head down in the hope that they'll pass him over next time. He's always up for a spat with Sree or anyone else if he thinks something needs to be said. So my regard for him is increasing by the day. Whether he can maintain his positive outlook, I don't know. It could be that the strain will wear him down in the end, and he'll turn paranoid. But right now he' s riding high in the polls, and deserves to be. He's got my vote anyway.