Strictly salsa for the politicians' politician

A gushing waltz; a tear in the eye; and David Blunkett telling me, as I led him to the stage, “This is the blind leading the blind!”

Where can I possibly have been other than at the somewhat counter-intuitive Channel 4 Political Awards? We were recording this Saturday’s show, and it has some real pearls.

Lord Mandelson, the comeback kid of the upper house, stole a march on his peers by winning an award. The dancing steps in question found the business secretary in the arms of Arlene Phillips, who was one of those who gave up hope when judging John Sergeant’s efforts in Strictly Come Dancing.

The tear was in Vince Cable’s eye upon winning the Channel 4 News viewers’ vote for politician of the year.

And Mr Blunkett had simply been over-prepped. The producers had told him once too often what part of the stage he was heading for, and I found myself doing a sort of gavotte and ending up in completely the wrong place – which provoked his comment above.

But actually what stole the show was unquestionably Rory Bremner. But that’s better seen than read.