Do we really want sleep-deprived parents taking decisions that affect 60 million of us?
Voters expect the father of the nation to be the father of a family. Mr Blair was the first to realise the power not just of kissing other people’s babies but producing his own. Being a dad with a mug transcended class and showed a real investment in the country’s future. President Obama set the stakes even higher: Malia and Sasha are held up as examples, make their own beds, give away their Christmas presents and help their mother in the vegetable plot. But it is bizarre that voters want a prime minister who is going to be distracted every time he goes up the stairs, a leader whose first priority, unless he is callous and coldhearted, is going to be his family, a politician who is sleep-deprived rather than alert. Being prime minister to 60 million Britons requires concentration. In her book Speaking for Myself Cherie Blair explained that they were frequently woken by Leo during the night just after a European summit or before a G8 meeting. Her children were also blamed for everything
