"War of wives" adds spice to Britain's election campaign (Feature)

By Anna Tomforde Apr 27, 2010, 6:01 GMT

London - They say there's a woman behind every successful man, but it's even better to have her by your side, the leaders of Britain's two main political parties have decided.

Sarah Brown (SarBro), the flagging prime minister's 'secret weapon,' and Samantha Cameron (SamCam), have openly and unashamedly engaged in a 'war of the wives' to back up their men.

But Miriam Gonzales Durantez, the Spanish wife of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, has remained conspicuously absent from the campaign trail, declaring that she could not 'afford the luxury' of abandoning her high-profile job as an international lawyer.

The overt political involvement - or abstention - of the wives, who are all high-powered professional women in their own right, is new to Britain and has prompted the inevitable question about its merits.

'Having become so alarmingly unpopular themselves, politicians are now hoping their attractive spouses can rescue them - or at least keep us watching,' political commentator Anne McElvoy wrote in the Evening Standard.

The women, said the Guardian, were 'potentially more popular than their husbands,' but the usefulness of their deployment in attracting the female vote remained to be seen.

Jan Moir, commentator for the Daily Mail, finds the whole spectacle disgusting, but praised the courage of 'brainbox' Durantez, also known as Mrs Clegg.

'No appendage,' was her powerful message - something Sarah Brown and Samantha Cameron should note,' wrote Moir.

Sarah Brown, who ran her own PR firm before getting married to the British leader, first made a splash for her beleaguered spouse at last year's Labour Party conference, introducing him as 'my husband, my hero.'

She has not relented in her fierce loyalty since, employing her own YouTube channel to spread the message and being crowned Twitter Queen for her massive following on the social networking site.

'Sarah Brown has done wonders for him,' said political analyst Tony Travers, referring to her role after recent allegations that Brown had been 'bullying' Downing Street staff.

Once she had made Gordon her 'project,' Samantha Cameron had little choice but to follow suit by publicly backing her husband.

Equally talented in the use of modern communication tools, her activities - whether making coffee and cupcakes at home or campaigning for her husband - can be followed on 'websamcameron.'

Both women have their own section on the official websites of their husbands' respective parties.

Samantha Cameron, who hails from an aristocratic family going back to the reign of Henry VIII, has been accused by critics of hiding her 'posh' accent behind a working class drawl.

Her job as creative director at Smythsons, the luxury stationery and leather goods maker, has already brought her fashion fame for 'must have' handbag designs.

But the 39-year-old has a unique trump card, revealing at the start of the campaign that she was four months pregnant.

The child, the fourth for the Camerons who lost their six-year-old disabled son Ivan last year, has already been dubbed the 'election baby.'

Like the Camerons, the Browns also lost a child, Jennifer Jane, just 10 days after her birth in early 2002 - a shared pain that created a 'strange bond' which perhaps explained the public's fascination with the two women, the Times commented.

Durantez, 42, the mother of three young boys, says her children and her job are more important than presenting a 'sugar-coated image' of herself to win voters for Clegg. 'Whatever I can fit between the job and the children I will do it 150 per cent,' she says.

Ironically, being Spanish and not having a British passport, she will not be able to vote for her husband.