UK Prime Minister David Cameron visits Game of Thrones set
Earlier today, UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron stopped by the set of Game of Thrones in the Titanic Corner of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The visit was part of a whirlwind tour during which Cameron will hit every part of the UK in 24 hours. By the time he got to Belfast, he had already stopped by Scotland, and will visit Wales and Cornwall by the end of the day.
Cameron told journalists that he was “fully up-to-date” with the show. He’s admitted before that he’s a fan, and even claimed that Ned Stark was his favorite character, which seems like the politically safe choice. Whenever a politician talks about enjoying a piece of pop culture, the cynical response is to assume that he or she is just trying to cozy up to the masses, but there’s some evidence that Cameron is actually sincere. He produces the term “Valyrian Steel” on his own in the video below, for example.
The purpose of Cameron’s 24-hour tour is to drum up support for the Conservative Party in advance of the upcoming general election in May, and Cameron didn’t waste the opportunity to do a little politicking. After saying that he was campaigning for an all-out Conservative majority in the elections, he expressed concern over the Stormont House Agreement, which was a deal reached by Northern Ireland’s five main political parties last year. There have been disagreements over the deal’s provisions regarding welfare reform, and Cameron assured reporters that everyone involved was “working hard” to find a solution. Also, visiting the set in the first place was something of a political maneuver, since the show has pumped a lot of money into Northern Ireland’s film industry.
Cameron is the second prominent British leader to visit the Game of Thrones set in the past year. Queen Elizabeth II also stopped by, and pointedly did not sit in the Iron Throne, last June. Since then, former Israeli President Shimon Peres sat on the Throne at a Game of Thrones exhibition in Tel Aviv. It seems that world leaders can’t help but be caught up in the show’s swelling popularity, and there’s no telling who might stop by next.
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