A second Smiths-loving Prime Minister has just hit government. At least Andy Burnham’s love of the legendary Manchester group is looking to be a bit more authentic than that of the previous Smiths-loving Prime Minister, David Cameron.

Cameron once described The Smiths as the soundtrack to his days at Eton College, as if imagining him listening to This Charming Man with his snooty public-school friends is somehow an endearing anecdote. Professing his love for the group failed to communicate that all-precious relatability, and only really managed to make The Smiths less cool. "Stop saying that you like The Smiths, no you don't," guitarist Johnny Marr wrote on then-Twitter, adding: "I forbid you to like it."

The new Prime Minister’s love of The Smiths is well-documented and accepted, however. No one is accusing him of being a fake fan like poser Cameron. But there is just something kind of, well, cringe about politicians in particular professing their love for the group. The habit of politicians using things we might like to relate to us is a well-worn tactic by now, mostly coming across as desperate and calculated to an increasingly jaded public more concerned about being adequately housed and fed than what’s on a policymaker’s Spotify playlist.

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