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David Cameron once again redefines the word chillax in this photograph. When a nameless "ally" said of the prime minister that "if there was an Olympic gold medal for 'chillaxing', he would win it", this modern art of idling to preserve precious energies was purported to mean he likes a game of tennis, a session with a DVD box set, a pint at the pub. Then it turned out to mean he exercises his thumbs playing Angry Birds. Now, in this picture, to chillax is once again downgraded, from pleasurable activity to exhausted inactivity – to crash out, to slumber, to snooze, to fall unconscious.
At least no one can say he's posing. This photograph was posted by the prime minister's sister-in-law Emily Sheffield on her Instagram account – but it seems to have been a careless or naive gesture, rather than some cunning propaganda move. Since the image hit the headlines it has been removed – so presumably it was not a deliberate attempt to make Cameron look cool by showing him asleep on a four poster bed at a family gathering, his slumped form whale-like in dark clothes.
In the foreground is Alice Sheffield, holding a glass of champagne as she gets ready for her wedding, which Cameron travelled to York for. Was this picture meant as a private joke? You can see the family enjoying it – there's Dave fast asleep on Alice's bed before the wedding, look at his massive naked foot. And there's his red political box thingy.
What it looks like, is that Cameron really does not put being prime minister at the centre of his existence. He's genuinely off work here, totally weekending – the red box seems a token prop to pretend to himself that he has not utterly disconnected from work. Sleeping is the most chillaxed anyone can get, while still being alive. Meanwhile, Alice Sheffield sits half-dressed in front of the disarrayed bed. Was that too part of the family joke?
Tony Blair made a great show of being a well-rounded man who played sport and spent time with his family, but none doubted that he was on top of the job. If Cameron showed similar mastery of the political world no one would begrudge him the odd nap at a family wedding – but this picture resonates with an apparent lack of precision and effectiveness at work. Just a week before it was taken (Alice Sheffield's wedding day was 7 September) Cameron failed to get a House of Commons vote to take Britain into miliary action in Syria. Lack of detailed work and thought seemed to be part of his spectacular failure to understand the political moment.
Then again, just before heading for York for this wedding, he'd got back from Russia where he countered reported sneers at British irrelevance with a patriotic speech widely compared to something out of a Richard Curtis film. People mocked him for being fantasist, but perhaps this picture proves Cameron's life really is a bit like a Hugh Grant movie: One Debacle, a Summit and a Wedding. No wonder he gets confused.
So we have to ask why the picture was taken. Endlessly putting pictures of your life into cyberspace is a bit like turning it into cinema. This picture suggests that, not only Cameron but those around him, feel they are living in the great British romantic comedy, circa 1993 – a cheery and heartwarming tale of posh folk. As the nation gawps at sleeping Dave, that fantasy crumbles. The latest Richard Curtis film got a critical drubbing. This picture's blend of extreme chillaxation, familial comedy and even vague sexual implications looks like bombing at the box office.
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