Political leaders on holiday

The Attlees: Clement Attlee, the Labour leader, on holiday in Nevin, Wales, in 1938, with his wife, Violet, and their daughters, Janet and Felicity Photograph: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty

Harold Wilson: this photograph of Wilson in the Scilly Isles in 1965 is particularly instructive, because it features the press pack, who are normally left out. Looking relaxed while 30 people are following you around requires considerable acting, and there is something weird about anyone who is good at it Photograph: Peter King/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty

The Thatchers: Cornwall, 1986, and they’ve apparently just popped out to take their host’s dog for a walk. Denis looks as if he’s on holiday, but then he always did. She appears to be amused by the whole thing. Then you see the shoes she packed and you realise: she has never been on a beach before Photograph: PA

The Blairs. France, 2001. It’s easy to forget how much time we spent decoding their spin. We assumed that even the wrinkles in his shirt were orchestrated Photograph: Jean-Philippe Arl/Reuters

The Camerons, Harlyn Bay, 2008: One must accept that the Camerons have a knack for this sort of thing. Not only do they look as if they're actually on holiday, they look as if they've actually been on holiday before. In some of the pics from the session, things threatened to get a bit spoony, on what is evidently a crowded beach. God knows how long they had to stand around looking spontaneously enamoured Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

The Browns, Trowse, 2008: If the Camerons seem to be posing for the Boden catalogue, the Browns always look as though they're featuring in an ad for an embarrassing complaint. Gordon Brown looks supremely ill-at-ease. You simply can't imagine him in swimming trunks, or even going near water. One has to feel for Brown - he clearly doesn't believe in relaxation of any kind, and now he's being forced to go on holiday just at the time when his party is plotting against him Photograph: Darren Staples/PA