Iain Duncan Smith on Radio 2 review – IDS coughs his way into a new career

Last week, Ed Miliband was the summer-holiday relief presenter on Radio 2’s The Jeremy Vine Show. This week’s takeover belongs to IDS, the man whose nickname always sounds regrettably gastro-intestinal.

Iain Duncan Smith is not a completely implausible broadcaster; poshly confident but gruff, he sounds like Clive Anderson with a cold. He does seem an odd choice for this job, though: he made so little media impact as Tory leader that he was forced to promise in a conference speech that “the quiet man is turning up the volume!” His career was also often hobbled by vocal problems, sounding hoarse at PMQs and having to take three months off to rest his voice.

In his Radio 2 debut, there was a lot of background coughing and throat-clearing when interviewees were speaking, even during his questions. His producers need to show him where the “cough switch” is on the console.

Admittedly, his show had a hard start, delayed for the minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the Finsbury Park terrorist attack (though Miliband, on his first day, did have to report on that story.) No such breaking news fell to Duncan Smith, whose menu of upcoming subjects at the top of the show included: “After a week of Brexit talks, is it proving harder than some people thought?” Since IDS was among those Brexiters who suggested that leaving would be a breeze, did this promise an exercise in Chinese political self-criticism?

“Doesn’t it sound as if it’s proving more difficult than expected?”, he asked Daniel Hannan, MEP, representing the pro-Brexit line. Hannan denied this, calling on his fellow politician in support: “I remember you saying during the campaign, Iain ...” The host spluttered: “Er, you’re referring to the Iain Duncan Smith who’s outside the studio; the one in here is impartial.”

Other first-day interviewees included those who had agreed or refused to follow safety advice at council tower blocks in north London, as well as segments on whether the terminally ill should abandon treatment to have the last holiday of a lifetime, and whether patriots in the UK should fly more flags outside their homes. Intriguingly, he perked up for this bit, either because it was the closest subject to his heart – he even got to play the British national anthem – or the end of the show was within reach. Reading out an email from a listener saying “I’ve got a Cuban flag on my arm”, Duncan Smith commented “Fantastic!”, as smoothly enthusiastic as Chris Evans.

Introducing the music was the thing IDS seemed to find hardest, pronouncing the name George Ezra with the sort of suspicious edge he might normally reserve for referring to an EU bureaucrat. Often, he didn’t namecheck the records at all, simply saying: “Here’s some music” before OutKast’s Hey Ya! and Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, and failing to identify either of them afterwards. The producer presumably had a word during a news bulletin halfway through, as IDS followed DJ rules from Danny Wilson’s Mary’s Prayer onwards.

“I’ve loved this,” he concluded, handing over to Claudia Winkleman, who was filling in for Steve Wright. But on the initial evidence, Miliband seems more likely to have a future in the studio. If the BBC wanted a three-named Tory Brexiter as a DJ, Jacob Rees-Mogg would surely have become a viral sensation.