Was Peter Mandelson too clever by half?

It’s remarkable how many people, journalists especially, seem to have a Peter Mandelson story they’ve kept to themselves for years if not decades.

Mostly they are allegations of offhand or boorish behaviour. I’ve never met him so I have nothing to add on that score, but I do have a Peter Mandelson story, of sorts. The difference is, I’ve told it before so it’s hardly an exclusive insight into the man.

In 1998 I was editing the monthly Mensa magazine when I commissioned the late Derek Draper (who was a high profile Labour spin doctor at the time) to write an article about political intelligence.

Alongside Draper's piece, I also ran a feature in which we estimated and gave marks for the political and intellectual abilities of each member of the Labour Cabinet. Tony Blair, for example, got 8 out of 10 for political ability, and 5 out of 10 for intellectual prowess. In contrast, Gordon Brown got 6 for political ability, and 6 for intellect.

To achieve a PQ rating we added the two figures together and multiplied the result by five, giving a score out of 100. Blair therefore had a PQ of 65, compared to the 60 we calculated for Gordon Brown.

It was just a bit of fun but the person who came top of our PQ table was none other than the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Peter Mandelson. Describing him as the ‘brains behind New Labour but not universally liked’, we gave him 10/10 for political ability, 8/10 for intellectual ability, multiplied those two figures by five, which gave him a PQ of 90.

Yes, it was subjective, but the media loves a list so our PQ table of Cabinet ministers got a lot of coverage. According to the Independent, for example:

Clever clogs, Vulcans and those with “pointy heads” will never have much political credibility. But Peter Mandelson, well, he is in a class of his own.

This is the ruling of a jury of 12 Mensa members who have created a new PQ rating - or Political Quotient, a cross between an IQ level and assessment of political acumen - to rank each member of the current cabinet.

Billed by the elite club’s panel as “the brains behind New Labour”, it is Peter Mandelson who finishes well ahead of his parliamentary rivals. He scores an impressive 90 points out of a possible 100 PQ.

“Our jury took the view that some of the cabinet were too clever by half,” explained Simon Clark, Mensa Magazine’s editor.

“It was not as scientific as an IQ allocation, but we asked each member to rate the politician on ability and then on intellectual ability, before coming up with the final PQ figure.”

Full story: Mandelson the ‘brains’ behind Labour (Independent)

Peter Mandelson at the Labour Party conference in 1998. Credit: Brian Harris/Alamy