Rishi isn’t alone: Why British men can never look cool in the rain

The PM’s election announcement was a washout thanks to his sodden appearance at the podium outside No 10, but not even a brolly could have saved him. Simon Mills asks what’s a man to do?

‘Cruel and relentless rain has a ruinous effect on a middle-aged man’s vanity, dignity and credibility’ (Getty)

Was it still raining? Rishi hadn’t noticed. The PM was having his Andie MacDowell moment outside No 10 yesterday, announcing the snap election date and, as the heavens opened and rain splashed all over the lapels of his immaculately tailored suit, dewed up his skin and wetted his slick hair, telling his people how he’d “never been prouder to have been British”.

There being, of course, nothing more quintessentially, definitively British than a man standing in a spring downpour, facing the world, and soldiering on against the elements.

Watching it, one did wonder, though… perhaps someone – deputy Oliver Dowden, say – could’ve stood by Rishi with a Tory-merch umbrella? Or maybe his staff looked at the forecast and figured that a man as slim and slight as Rishi could simply stand in between the raindrops’ trajectory and avoid any dampness by remaining stately and stationary.