Zohran Mamdani has found a new way of campaigning: making voters smile, writes Andy Coulson

He said so, quite openly, on a podcast. No bluff, no backtracking, no panicked press aide dragging him off the mic. Just a simple, smiling admission that the Piano Man had passed him by. He even stuck this ‘gaffe’ on his own Instagram.

In Britain, that sort of cultural cock-up could spark a red-top feeding frenzy. But Mamdani handled it with a shrug and a smile and moved on without a flinch or fuss. In a landscape choked with pessimism, Mamdani has done something both bold and brilliantly simple: he’s made running for public office look like something you might actually enjoy.

Imagine that.

James Kanagasooriam, co-founder of Focaldata, recently pointed out that in Britain today, positivity in public life is “the scarcest resource.” Ipsos Mori backs that up, reporting that 70 per cent of Britons believe things will get worse economically over the next year. Voters, Kanagasooriam notes, are gravitating to those who can swim against the tide of negativity.

Mamdani is swimming social media laps around rivals Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa despite the lack of experience that those competitors like to point out. He smiles. He laughs. He serves dinner to taxi drivers one minute and pets bodega cats the next. He’s not grimacing through this campaign; he’s enjoying it. And voters can tell.

Mamdani’s got cool, too. Not the forced, stylist-advised variety. This is a man who can live in a suit and tie, then switch to a formal kurta with a Nehru vest without missing a beat. So cool that New Yorkers dressed up as him for Halloween, in a nice way.

This isn’t political theatre - it’s credibility built on connection. Mamdani doesn’t act like a man of the people. He acts like a man who likes people. Who enjoys campaigning.

Mamdani’s backstory has some complications, including a father who has offered some less than positive views about the UK’s past, for example. The Big Apple’s one million plus Jewish population is nervous about a Mamdani-led future, but Fox News found - despite it all - 38% are prepared to vote for him.

In a world where joy has gone missing from public life, Mamdani might just have worked out the simple formula to overcome the doubters – make ‘em smile.

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Andy Coulson is the former Downing Street Communications Director, founder of strategic advisers Coulson Partners and host of the Crisis What Crisis podcast.

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