'You can't break the ties that bind," sang Bruce Springsteen, and very likely the coalition government was listening. A month ago, they were all sporting blue and yellow neckwear, with purple the sole refuge for politicians seeking a nonpartisan tie (favoured by Gordon Brown and David Cameron during the leaders' debates). But over the last fortnight, in a display of unprecedented solidarity, Tories and Lib Dems have switched to matching knots of green.
Leading the revolution is Cameron, who has sported neckerchiefs from chartreuse to teal. The PM donned a shiny lime number to greet the president of the EU on Monday, while George Osborne bustled around Shanghai last week wearing viridian. David Laws chose a pear-coloured tie to announce his resignation, and both Chris Huhne and Liam Fox have favoured deep olive ties.
Helen Venables, director of image consultants House of Colour, says it's all an act of political camaraderie. "They've mixed the colours of the two coalition parties – blue and yellow – and come up with green." For Chris Huhne, secretary of state for climate change, "green is obviously a portfolio colour", his spokesman explains. "The coalition agreement was also written in green."
Might there be other explanations? There is the season to consider too: the grass is green, the leaves are green and so, naturally, are the ties. Would they work in winter?
Claudia Guida, a buyer at Tie Rack, blames fashion. "Green ties have become much more popular. We've had to bring in a whole new range – including ties with little green animals. Politicians are just following a trend." Richard James, the tailor responsible for some of Cameron's ties, thinks it's a matter of evolution. "A few weeks ago they were wearing blue, then purple, then turquoise. Green marks a natural progression." One thing's for sure – purple is so last month.
