Those who get to do the interviews are now all older than those two young men. Only Eddie Mair & Jeremy Vine (both b.1965) come close, followed by Nick Robinson (1963), Evan Davis (1962) & Nicky Campbell (1961).
Then come Andrew Marr & Adam Boulton (1959), Michael Crick (1958), James Naughtie (1951), Jeremy Paxman (1950), Dimbleby minor (1944), John Humphrys (1943) & finally David Dimbleby (1938).
I have concentrated on the men because they are mostly men, for reasons which Ceri Thomas (1963) so helpfully explained a while ago.
When the habit of treating politicians, even prime ministers, with respect & deference began to go out of fashion in the 1960s it was young men such as David Frost who helped lead the way.
All these media men of today belong to the baby boom generation, those who, as David Willetts (1956) has explained Took Their Children's Future. These boomers have grabbed the best jobs in political broadcasting & are just hanging on to them rather than let the younger ones come through. Which means it is odd that in politics we have let in David Cameron (1966) & Nicholas Clegg (1967); I suppose it only becomes clear that the boom is really over several years after the event, & these two are being dragged along in the slipstream.
The argument that being part of a boom generation gives you the power to muscle in & take over is given a little extra weight when you consider the years of birth of our last seven prime ministers, starting with Harold Wilson: 1916, 1912,1925, 1945, 1953, 1951 & now 1966. The baby famine generation of the 1930s completely missed out on this office. Expect never to see a prime minister born in the 1970s.
Note: Except for Nicky Campbell & Ceri Thomas all dates of birth have been taken from Who's Who
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