THERE was an interesting performance from Richmond MP William Hague on BBC breakfast television yesterday morning.

It was not so much what he said (on his successor, Labour's record on the NHS and life after the Tory leadership), but the way that he said it.

He appeared much more relaxed and at one with himself than in any of his television appearances as party leader. Those much criticised flat South Yorkshire vowels sounded appreciably softer - clearly the result of spending more time in the Yorkshire Dales.

Although good at handling pressure (and he had plenty of that) when the spotlight was on him, it was noticeable how without that pressure of expectation he came across as assured, confident, statesmanlike and in control - all qualities which he has possessed since his days as a young MP but which he failed to project in the glare of the television studio lights.

That failure to come across well on television is a mystery he confessed he could not fathom in his first in-depth interview with the D&S Times after last year's election defeat.

Watching yesterday morning's performance, Spectator couldn't help but think of the line from the film My Fair Lady when Prof Higgins realises his charge Eliza has finally cracked how to speak in standard English - "By George (s)he's got it!"

Will's the one

Spectator will risk a public lynching on Darlington's High Row by having the temerity to suggest that the town's Zoe is not the most accomplished singer taking part in the current attention-grabbing Pop Idol television talent contest.

Surely that is William, a young man with a genuinely different and melodious voice, with an assured manner and, I'm told by Mrs Spectator, a uniquely attractive smile.

Unfortunately, as a posh kid from Berkshire with a degree in politics from Exeter university, he is unlikely to attract much in the way of sympathy votes. Gareth, the cherubic looking one from somewhat more humble origins in Bradford, who overcame a stutter to make his way to the limelight, is understandably the bookies' favourite.

Still, this William could be Prime Minister instead.

In the lamplight

You just can't trust the media to get the story right sometimes. Earlier this week Britain's rail system came under further critical scrutiny when some newspapers ran a story about how some signalling is still operated by gas lamp - using the Settle-Carlisle line as an example. The story was used to illustrate how out-of-date the railways are and how investment in rail infrastructure was desperately needed.

Apparently the story started out as a bright concept from a Railtrack press officer who thought the idea of Railtrack employees re-lighting the lamps helped to show the human face of the rail network. Oh dear.