The C Word Celebrity, Politics and Power in 21st Century Britain (Hardcover)

'There's almost as many celebrities as supermarkets now. It means nothing.' So says Max Clifford. Yet politicians are falling over themselves to befriend celebrities and are even striving for fame themselves, with Gordon Brown claiming to wake up to the Arctic Monkeys and Ann Widdecombe signing up for Celebrity Fit Club. Jamie Oliver is tasked with revolutionising school meals, while Bob Geldof is entrusted with saving the developing world. Politicians seem to envy celebrities their ability to communicate with ordinary people, while at the same time holding them responsible for the ills of the world, from poor exam results to anorexia to knife crime.In her entertaining and provocative new book, Mary Riddell takes the temperature of X-Factor Britain and finds that celebrity is not directly responsible for social ills. Children aren't being irreparably damaged by trashy role models, or by hyper-materialism, but by poverty of opportunity. Meanwhile powerbrokers, from politicians to royals to terrorists, use celebrity as a tool of power, posing a real threat to society. Riddell draws on frank interviews with modern celebrities, ranging from prime ministers to Wags to the future king of England, to establish what happens when image supplants reality and asks where democracy goes from here.This is a witty and provocative study of a nation in thrall to celebrity. It includes: frank interviews with key players.