Ed Vaizey MP would like to be our culture secretary. He told us so himself. But most people in the room, mainly women of a certain age and men sporting facial topiary, had two issues with this.
First, the Conservatives would have to win the next election. Second, he was meant to be debating whether or not all modern art is left wing, the title of the Art Fund-organised event at which he was speaking. He was not meant to be giving a party political broadcast.
But there was no stopping him. "Moderate right wingers are not people to be frightened of. We love you," he said. Was he about to do a Bono and hug someone? A couple of hoodie-wearing students in the front row might have been a good place to start. Thankfully, he stayed behind the podium.
Vaizey-watching was as interesting as the debate. His attempts at nonchalance when seated next to a man in drag - Grayson Perry in a skirt and big pantaloons - were particularly fun. He looked as though his eyes might boing out on springs.
Ironically, Perry turned out to be the person in the room most likely to vote for him. When he wasn't slating Damien Hirst, the potter was moaning about his tax bill and asserting the importance of tradition.
Of the others on the panel, Munira Mirza, a woman with the nebulous title of cultural commentator, didn't seem a natural Tory voter, while portraitist Jonathan Yeo barely said a word all night, staring wistfully into the distance. Maybe he'd forgotten to tape EastEnders.
Or maybe he was just wishing, like all of us, that Vaizey and Perry would shut up for a second and let someone else speak.
First, the Conservatives would have to win the next election. Second, he was meant to be debating whether or not all modern art is left wing, the title of the Art Fund-organised event at which he was speaking. He was not meant to be giving a party political broadcast.
But there was no stopping him. "Moderate right wingers are not people to be frightened of. We love you," he said. Was he about to do a Bono and hug someone? A couple of hoodie-wearing students in the front row might have been a good place to start. Thankfully, he stayed behind the podium.
Vaizey-watching was as interesting as the debate. His attempts at nonchalance when seated next to a man in drag - Grayson Perry in a skirt and big pantaloons - were particularly fun. He looked as though his eyes might boing out on springs.
Ironically, Perry turned out to be the person in the room most likely to vote for him. When he wasn't slating Damien Hirst, the potter was moaning about his tax bill and asserting the importance of tradition.
Of the others on the panel, Munira Mirza, a woman with the nebulous title of cultural commentator, didn't seem a natural Tory voter, while portraitist Jonathan Yeo barely said a word all night, staring wistfully into the distance. Maybe he'd forgotten to tape EastEnders.
Or maybe he was just wishing, like all of us, that Vaizey and Perry would shut up for a second and let someone else speak.
