When Bill Rammell, MP for Harlow, appeared drenched in sweat on BBC television on Tuesday night, he joined a growing number of politicians whose statements have taken second place to their sweat patches. As he grew increasingly uncomfortable under the hot studio lights – and the line of questioning – his face became wetter and wetter and thoughts turned away from what the former foreign office minister had to say on Libya and more to whether someone would hand him a handkerchief.
He's not the first politician to suffer such an embarrassment. In a 1960 televised debate with JFK, Richard Nixon famously dashed his presidential hopes after his clammy face made him appear shifty and untrustworthy, while Bill Clinton came over all damp of brow when asked about his intern Monica Lewinsky. And who can forget the sight of Tony Blair, drenched in sweat, trying to defend his Iraq policy.
Mark Borkowski, head of Borkowski PR, says: "It's an unfortunate and human foible, but everything is so finely tuned in image-making these days that anything that comes across as an imperfection becomes the focus. If you sweat, you have to take control of it."
Some pressed powder and a suit free of polyester blends would probably have done the trick for Rammell, though he might want to take slightly more drastic action to make sure "sweatgate" doesn't rear its glistening head again. Dr Nikola Mioljevic, of the Milo Clinic in London, is known as the "Botox king" and has treated numerous politicians. "You can use Botox to stop sweating anywhere," he explains. "It's an extremely common procedure and takes about 15 minutes to do, but lasts for between six and 12 months. Sweating can ruin lives. This gives people confidence."
Perhaps that's how Peter Mandelson never loses his cool?
Emma Sibbles
