Britain needs a Jon Stewart: A truly thought-provoking satirist with real anger who is never deferent to barmy politicians

I have been a fan of American comedian Jon Stewart’s TV news satire The Daily Show almost since the beginning.

A friend at university introduced me to it in 2000, a year after it began airing, and, as someone with a deep interest in U.S. politics, I’ve been hooked ever since.

The end interview, such as last night’s brilliant chat with Nicola Sturgeon in which he compared her electoral ambition to Saddam Hussein’s and she ridiculed America’s habit of invading oil-producing countries, is usually the least good part.

It is more often a fairly dull affair because guests, especially Hollywood actors, frequently use it as a plugging session.

But the first half of the show - when it’s just him using an unrivalled combination of devilish wit, rational arguments, inspiring eloquence, sublime silliness and a heavy dose of righteous anger to expose a political farce, social injustice or yet more Fox News hypocrisy - is almost always an absolute joy to watch.

He is unapologetically left-wing – or “liberal” as they erroneously say in America - and never hides his contempt for the cash-soaked, war-mongering U.S. establishment and his country’s particularly malicious, socially regressive, plutocratic, gun-toting and intellectually barren brand of conservative politicians from the Republican Party.

He is little bothered by deference and happy to draw fire at Democrats too, but such instances are far less frequent.

While I enjoy Stewart, who will retire from the Daily Show in September after almost 17 years as host and be replaced by South African comedian Trevor Noah, I used to think his brand of satire had no place here in Britain, where we try to be more even-handed in poking fun at politicians and other powerful people due to our tradition of balanced public broadcasting.

But, in recent years, having watched a woeful political opposition fail to hold the Tories to account on its tragicomically rich-enriching, poor-impoverishing and paradoxically debt-ballooning policy of austerity, I have realised that we do need someone like him, although perhaps not on the BBC.

The reason why aiming to spread satire equally is so ineffective is because different politicians and public figures do not have the same clout.

As Stewart points out, making the same amount of fun of those without power is “like kicking a child, so it’s just not worth it”

Also, Comedians, unlike politicians do not need to win votes or court the wider public, and so can often be far more affective in attacking those with power.

The argument against having satire like The Daily Show is that Stewart, who described Britain’s Tory manifesto as a “heady mix of grinding austerity and the killing of small furry animals”, is accused of preaching to the converted.

Certainly, although the number of viewers on America’s Comedy Central cable network has soared to 2.3million a night, few people inclined to vote Republican would tune in.

But he often triggers rows – such as his ongoing feud with vain billionaire Donald Trump, who he nicknames F***face Von Clownstick – that gain wider media attention, as well as interviews with big names such as President Barack Obama and even ruffle-haired London Mayor Boris Johnson, to whom he first of all apologised for the “wind backstage”.

And because Stewart has such a brilliant brain and grasp of politics, he is able turn silly skits – such as one in April, here, where he posed as a Sherlock Holmes-style detective to interrogate a balloon with a frown drawn on to represent former Vice President Dick Cheney - to devastating affect.

His kind of blithe but biting humour mixed with an unassailable intellect that is truly thought-provoking is sadly absent in British satire.

The closest we come to someone who can reach a wide audience by using a sharp brain and cutting wit against politicians and the establishment is Frankie Boyle.

But he all too frequently demeans himself and thus his well-aimed satire by cruelly insulting people who do not hold great power, wealth or influence.

Stewart, despite having a frequently melancholic demeanour similar to the Scottish comedian, is a great deal more polite, welcoming and less nihilistic in the way he operates.

And, unlike someone like Russell Brand, he displays a clear and practical vision about what is wrong with society, does not eschew democratic means to change it and is generally a less off-putting character.

It is a difficult balance and hard act to carry, but we desperately need someone like Jon Stewart in Britain now.