Analysis: Olympic patriotism?

Christine Ohuruogu

Wednesday, 20, Aug 2008 12:00

Day after day, Team GB pick up gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, but what are the political ramifications back home?

There's no one old enough to remember British Olympians doing this well. Throw something at the television and it's liable to hit a Union Jack being raised into the sky. But the mere fact it is a British flag, not an English, Scottish or Welsh one, carries with it a whole world of meaning to political parties back home.

In a nation which expresses so much of its patriotism through football, the separation of the Union's teams into their respective countries has had an effect on the British psyche which is difficult to quantify. With most moments of national success or failure framed around English, rather than British, performance, the St George's Cross began to take on a more potent meaning.

Combine that with a resurgent Scottish National party (SNP) governing Hollyrood and the incessant rumble of discontent over the West Lothian question south of the border, and most political commentators could feel the Union slowly falling apart.

How much bearing will a successful British Olympics team have on the situation? Potentially, quite a lot. Politicians and analysts have long noticed traces of sporting success or failures on a ruling party's electoral performance, even if they have failed to properly comprehend it, and that applies more to sports-mad Britain than it does for any other country in the world.

"Have you noticed how we only win the World Cup under a Labour government?" Harold Wilson remarked after England's victory in 1966. That was proved very wrong during Tony Blair's time as prime minister. A better phrase, from Mr Wilson's perspective, would have been: "Have you noticed how likely a ruling party is to stay in power if the public are in a good mood?"

Sporting failure has a similar – if lesser – effect on elections as economics. Voters get rid of the ruling party during bad times. Make them happy with sporting success and they're far less likely to get rid of you.

So can Gordon Brown expect the Games to boost his dismal ratings? Well, the Olympics are not the World Cup. The Games simply don't have that awesome, all-encompassing psychological force of football on the British public.

Not only that, but no sporting performance outweighs an average voter's concern with the amount of money in his pocket. Economic concerns override all else, and right now the economy looks so bad it would take even greater sporting achievements than this to make a mark on the electoral cycle. And with Mr Brown's position so weak, and his party's fortunes so poor, it will take more than Olympic success to save Labour at the next election.

But Team GB's success does play into Mr Brown's political agenda nicely. His focus on 'Britishness' and his losing battle against Scottish nationalism in the form of the SNP government both benefit from the jubilant waves of Union Jacks in Beijing. The gold medals emerging from China draw Britons together in much the same way national football teams can pull them apart. The presence of a Scot – Chris Hoy - as Britain's greatest ever Olympian can be combined with Wales' best Olympic performance for 36 years to give an impression of a Britain that does better working together than it does apart. After all, how long has it been since any of the Home Nations did this well in the football?

How far the prime minister can capitalise on these achievements is unsure. He will surely be keeping a beady eye on the awards board, and is earning appreciation from some quarters for the extra £300 million he pledged to Olympic sports in 2006.

With an autumn fightback on the way, a dangerous Scottish by-election on the horizon and sporting accomplishments corresponding to his long-stated belief in the British character, the summer's sports results constitute a rare piece of good news for the prime minister.

Ian Dunt