Jeremy Corbyn goes from tough questions to soft sofa
The Labour leader goes from the Rottweiler Jeremy Paxman to a pair of puppy dog interviewers in the space of 24 hours.
Wednesday 31 May 2017 21:33, UK
Just 24 hours earlier Jeremy Corbyn had faced a sometimes-hostile TV grilling about the IRA, nuclear weapons and terrorism on Sky News.
And earlier in the day he had in what should have been a fairly innocuous interview on Radio 4's Woman's Hour about childcare.
Yet now, in his latest TV interview, the Labour leader found himself being quizzed ever so gently about his garden hedge, his childhood and his allotment.
Compared with and some brutal interruptions from Jeremy Paxman, Mr Corbyn faced the softest of soft sofa interviews.
Three weeks ago, when Theresa May and her husband Philip appeared on BBC TV's The One Show, we learned that there are "boy jobs and girl jobs" in the May household.
Now, when it was Mr Corbyn's turn, he chose not to take his wife, Laura Alvarez, with him.
But he did provide some cheesy family photos from his comfortable, middle-class childhood.
On his family, he acknowledged intrusion in his life goes with the territory because he is an elected politician. But for his family and children it is not right and not fair, he said.
The half-hour programme began with a suggestion from presenter Alex Jones that the hedge at his Islington home is untidy and needs a trim.
Mr Corbyn's eyes lit up and he became animated. "You have got to let the plants grow a bit, then you prune them back," he said.
He then revealed that the land had previously been concreted over and it was the "devil's own job" to turn it into a garden.
On his childhood, when one photo showed him in reins as a toddler, he said: "I was a bit free-spirited and I kept climbing out of the pram and running off."
This was obviously when he gained the rebellious streak that years later would see him top every league table for defying three line whips during a Labour government.
Looking back at his school record, he admitted he only gained two Es at A-level and said: "I was a not academically successful student."
He said his mother suggested examiners may not have been able to read his writing.
But he said it was more likely that his answers on subjects that interested him were too long and he "forgot the rest of it".
His critics among Labour MPs would no doubt claim that is also his problem in some of his performances in Prime Minister's Questions and big set-piece Commons speeches.
And it was on the subject of his relations with his MPs - who passed a motion of no confidence him last year - that Mr Corbyn gave his one controversial answer of the half-hour programme.
Asked about his experience refereeing an under-10 football match, he was asked: "Who is it easier to keep control of, 10-year-olds or the Parliamentary Labour Party?"
Without hesitation, he replied: "Ten-year-olds."
The interview ended with Mr Corbyn talking of his love for his allotment, revealing that it offered a "chance to unwind and be yourself".
And then, with a flourish and a broad, proud smile, he handed the show's presenters a jar of his home-made jam.
From the Rottweiler Paxman to a pair of puppy dog interviewers in the space of 24 hours.
But Mr Corbyn showed he can be a good sport and rolled over and had his tummy tickled. Metaphorically, of course!