Stick to the Numbers game Carol....please

Let me set my stall out from the start – I am NOT a political animal although I do support my local MP (this I would do irrespective of what party she represents as I just happen to believe that she has done a magnificent job in my home town of Crawley).
Watching Question Time is about as far as I am prepared to go in keeping abreast of party politics and very often it is only the views of the audience rather than the panel that I ever truly respect (with some notable exceptions). This was never more apparent than in last week’s show where panellists included former Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman and journalist and self-styled flâneur Will Self.
I really do hate being negative, or cruel, or in fact saying anything at all when it is not positive BUT it is difficult not to comment on the BBC’s judgement in inviting another television presenter on to a political show when they are clearly way out of their depth. Having the overtly erudite Will Self seated on your right must be very intimidating but Carol was lulled into a sense of false security by having the affable and more subtly gifted Boris Johnson seated to her left (I am in fact a huge Boris fan as he tends to be that all too rare commodity HONEST). What followed in the course of the hour was so cringe-making it made Carol’s Strictly appearance only the second worst career move she has ever made. From the moment her glasses were donned one could feel this was going to be an intellectual car crash.
Carol is of Conservative persuasion. She is Blue through and through. She is also blind to the arguments of any other political party in the same way as some religious zealots are blinded by their own truths to the detriment of other perfectly rational truths. Unfortunately when someone says black and you scream back WHITE it does not instil great confidence in what that person has to offer as a viable solution to any problem.
Carol appeared to have spent the evening learning her diatribe against anyone or anything non-Tory. She was not going to be swayed by reasoned argument and clearly was unable to get involved in a serious verbal joust with the highly-skilled but, fortunate for her, benevolent Self (on this occasion – maybe he is a Countdown fan!) but what she didn’t realise was her haranguer style had reduced the Mayor of London to a seemingly embarrassed state of catatonia.
Of course Carol is a member of Mensa and has a high IQ, which probably gives me as much right as anyone to question the wisdom of this booking as I too am a member of Mensa, but contrary to public perception all this means is that we have the ability to solve meaningless puzzles (or as one of my dear friends puts it – the ability to place square pegs in round holes), it does not give us the ability to mix it in the political world with professionals.
My honest advice for Carol would be to gain far more experience (as Will Self has done) on more downmarket panel shows such as those presented by other professional television intellectuals like Stephen Fry and Ian Hyslop. I would love to change the world but if I were asked to appear on Question Time the answer would be a resounding NO – it is a tough gig with a very informed and partly invited audience most of whom have an interest in politics and almost all of which would have more heartfelt and sincere views than myself. When will the BBC learn to check out their invited celebrities for suitability and IMPARTIALITY!