Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

Its difficult for a politician elected to any given political party to write about the negativity that most people feel towards politicians and politics in general. Politics has become, or never stopped being a dirty word to many people.  I’ve spent some time over the last few weeks with people who either don’t have that much of an interest in politics, don’t understand the processes, want to learn more, don’t know how to, or are turned off by it totally. And I did learn that one friend really likes James Cameron, by the way;-)

I did a quick poll in my head, and I can reveal that most of them said that the one thing that deterred them from voting was the constant griping amongst politicians, the smears and the negativity- the inability to work together despite our differences. This may not be a surprise to anyone. Now, this is where it gets difficult, because by the very nature of being in a political party, it is common practise for me to attack others if they are not promoting policies that I deem to be effective, or if I disagree with their stance on certain issues. I don’t see anything wrong with this as long as I have strong reasons for opposing them, and explain my stance without hesitation. Nonetheless, the waters are muddied when political parties attack one another for the simple reason that they are in a different party, and they feel obliged to attack attack attack- often to the detriment of the very people they purport to represent.

People getting on with their everyday lives cannot fathom why politicians need to take part in such self indulgent actions, knowing full well that this will turn them even further away from politics. I felt like this to a degree before I got involved in party politics while I was living in Aberystwyth. I didn’t want to have to tie myself down to a party. I didn’t want to compromise my views. I wanted to be part of a team, but not if I had to say things I didn’t agree with or be forced to act in a certain way. I certainly didn’t want to oppose  particular political parties just for the sake of it, or just because people would advise me that my alleged ‘political purity’ would be shattered by even speaking to them. We are living in the 21st Century after all!

I can’t tell you that I don’t sometimes have to compromise, that I don’t have to bite my tongue, that  don’t I get angry or frustrated at some decisions or I would be lying, but as with life’s challenges, there is no rose tinted answer to everything. Nobody can be 100% pure in every decision they make.  I will disagree with many policies of other political parties- and my own on occasions. However, listening to my friends speak in broad terms about politics made me take a step back. In fact it made me more confused in a way, because the main reason I came in to politics was to help others, to campaign, and to make Wales a better place. I didn’t enter mainstream politics to fight, to smear, to shout at others.

I know that people do not want to see elected politicians act in such a way, and if that means I won’t be the most successful politician ever- ruthlessly pushing myself to the top of my party, and that I won’t be all powerful and lead an Independent Wales one day, then so be it! At least my friends will still tell me that I’m working hard, that I’m trying my best, and that I stayed true to my word. I can only begin to try and motivate people to realise that many of us are there as elected politicians for the right reasons. I told one friend recently as we walked past the Senedd  ‘That’s your building. You own that’. She looked suddenly quite proud, and I think she started to realise how important it was for her to find out more about what it could achieve for her in her everyday life as opposed to thinking that it was a place for important people with matching titles.

I can only tell people about the campaigns I’m involved in, the people I try to encourage to get involved in my work, and how I seek to communicate with them positively. If it doesn’t work out for me in this arena, then even though my friends are proud of me for being in’Who’s Who’ (!) or tell me that I looked nice in the Western Mail the other week( all the really high brow stuff you will notice;-)) I will still have had a once in a lifetime experience of representing Wales, of playing a small part in the political process…and my friends will be just that little bit more with it when it comes to voting day next time around….I hope!