Boris vs Ken: the political Hell in a Cell

The London mayoral election has been something of a political Hell in a Cell, with two men delivering verbal chair shots and sledgehammers to the skull. They even went nose-to-nose in a lift, whilst Boris shouted at Ken: "You are a fucking liar!"

It made me think that whilst politics should be a case of substance over style, I cannot help but enjoy a bloody political grudge match. Politicians go to all kinds of trouble to seem kind and good-natured and respectful of everyone and everything. They shake hands with commoners in the street, kiss babies on the forehead, or eat a sausage roll in Greggs. Even when they lose, they say how disappointed they are, but how happy they were to lose to a candidate of such remarkable stature. Boris and Ken are not immune to this. Whilst they faced each other down in the lift journey from hell for Lib Dem candidate, Brian Paddick, they were en-route to a photo opportunity on a sixth floor terrace. No doubt they shook hands and tightened their grip to make the other squirm through their toothy, false smiles.

If a politician does not like another, we tend to know already. So why do they hide it? Out of fear of losing voters? In the past, there have been times when a politician losing their rag has helped them. When Gordon Brown was revealed to have some "anger issues" in 2010, his approval ratings actually increased. When John Prescott punched a man who egged him in the face, people liked him more. Now I am not saying that Cameron in the face of depressing polls should Hulk up and boot-stomp the closest protester. As fun as that would be to watch, it is a tad over the top.

The point is at a time when the million dollar question in politics is "how do we look more human," the answer is not look awkward in a Greggs, whilst Ed Balls, with his jacket over his shoulder, buys the guys some pasties. Politicians should not be so afraid to look naturally human. They should not worry about making sure their tie matches their mood ring, out of fear that the Daily Mail reports on it (you can imagine the headline now: HYPOCRITE CLEGG WEARS CALM BLUE TIE WHEN RING SHOWS MODERATE ANGER).

To me, the battle for London is one of the most exciting elections of the past decade. It has people talking about it which is always a good thing. Even if they are talking about a bust-up in a lift, it inevitably leads to discussion about why they had the bust-up and that leads to the issues, the substance over the style. Not every election should be modelled in the same way as this one, because democracy would suffer from the negativity and personal nature of this politics, especially when two candidates have a genuine respect for each other. But if the opportunity arose for David Cameron and Ed Miliband to settle the next general election in a steel cage, it would take an unfortunate collision with a bus to stop me from watching.