Politics? wot’s tha all about?
Posted on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 7:56pm
9 responses
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!
Bethan – this is an interesting post which I hope will stimulate a discussion. You have been honest and frank, and I think those who comment should welcome that.
I spoke at Welsh Labour Conference yesterday on the topic of the perception of politicians, and also on the same theme at a Conservative conference fringe a few weeks ago. This may be a long post, but I felt it might be helpful if I shared (at some length) some of the things I said. Together with my fellow panellists (Derek Vaughan at Labour; and Evan Price at the Conservatives) I think we helped stimuate some interesting dicussions.
The text of my sermon today is provided by the third Survey of public attitudes towards conduct in public life, which was once again conducted by the Committee on Standards in Public Life. These have been produced in 2004, 2006 and 2008 and provide a clear appraisal of how politics is viewed.
The surveys show that in general the public continue to show high levels of confidence in the honesty of front-line professionals such as doctors and teachers. National politicians continue to languish near the bottom, along with estate agents and tabloid journalists.
Those of us within the political bubble however I am sure recognise that the vast majority of politicians are indeed selfless and dedicated to public life and not personal gain. From local councillors upward or downward, depending on your perspective, I think we have a dedicated political class which is often much maligned and certainly often misinterpreted and not appreciated.
The most recent survey also shows that people’s perceptions of standards in public life have been fairly stable over the three surveys. But there remain some worrying trends. For example, 41 per cent of respondents thought that standards had deteriorated over the past few years compared to only 30 per cent in both 2004 and 2006. People are also less satisfied with the way in which government ministers perform their jobs with only 38 per cent thinking that all or most government ministers do not use their power for their own gain compared to 49 per cent in 2006.
I would like now to focus particularly on what the most recent survey said about Wales and would commend the Wales chapter to particular scrutiny by all people in this room. Indeed, the very presence of separate chapters and clear data for the devolved parts of the UK is a testament to the strength of the report.
Looking at the Wales data, I think we can be quietly confident of the standards in our own politics. The survey showed that in Wales, 47 per cent of respondents rated standards in conduct in Wales as high, compared with 39 per cent rating standards in the UK as a whole as high. 35 per cent thought that standards were improving in Wales, compared with only 24 per cent who thought that they were improving across the UK. The Wales figures were broadly close to those in Scotland, but some way below those recorded in Northern Ireland.
The findings for the devolved administrations also confirm the tendency for people to be more positive about institutions that are more local and known to them. While beliefs about what values should underlie public office were similar across the four countries, people in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all rated overall standards of conduct as higher in their own country than in the UK as a whole, and were more likely to think that standards were improving in their own country. They also tended to think that their own ministers were more likely to exhibit positive behaviours than ministers in the UK government, especially in relation to ‘being in touch with what the public thinks is important’ and ‘being dedicated to doing a good job for the public’.
The figures are quite interesting: Respondents in Wales were also more likely to trust Welsh Assembly Government Ministers (55%) and Assembly Members (51%) to tell the truth than to trust UK Government Ministers (42%) or ‘MPs in general’ (42%) to do so. But at the same time they were also more likely to trust their local MP (60%) than their local Assembly Members (55%).
People in Wales generally thought their own executive ministers more likely to exhibit positive behaviours than ministers in the UK government. Most notably, 33 per cent of respondents in Wales said that all or most Welsh Assembly Government Ministers were in touch with what the public thinks is important, compared with 22 per cent for UK Ministers, and 49 per cent said that all or most Welsh Assembly Government Ministers were dedicated to doing a good job for the public, compared with 40 per cent for UK Ministers. Obviously whether or not that gives you succour perhaps depends on your political persuasion.
Overall therefore I think a relatively clean bill of health, but since we have been asked today to examine what can we all do to encourage full public confidence in our democracy then I will make a few suggestions of actions that might be taken.
Let me take the most thorny issue first. Hardly a week seems to go by without a new story or angle breaking around expenses for politicians. And no party seems to be immune from the scandal either. I am not going to focus on any particular aspect but I think that most people involved in public life would recognise a few things after recent events:
- Few people have broken any rules
- The rules as they stand are unsustainable.
- Politicians must think about how each of their claims will be perceived
A second issue I think is a real issue is the growth of respect between politicians of different political parties. One of the consequences of political change has been the rise of the coalition as perhaps the most natural form of government here in Wales, at either Assembly or local government level. This has brought with it an easing of tensions and more political respect between parties. All of which translates externally perhaps to building faith in politicians amongst a public which does not like to see political bickering form a mainstay of public life.
Conversely, though, there does seem to have been an increase in sniping between politicians at different elected levels. The more politicians in Westminster and the Assembly have needed to work together to make our new legislative system work, the more they have been seen to grow apart. And there are plenty of media and other vehicles which are happy to magnify such messages so that sometimes it seems that a culture of disrespect is appearing in which politicians are content to criticise other politicians in another part of the political system altogether. If this were to continue, I can only surmise that there will be knock on effects in public confidence.
And that’s the version edited to reflect the key things you’ve posted about here!
Good post. The political process is often deliberately shrouded in a cloak of acronyms and archaic language to confuse people and defuse protest. How many times are we told “it’s unrealistic to expect that” or “you’re naive to argue for that” when the world has turned upside down in the space of a few months.
Money that wasn’t available to repair council houses suddenly materialises to keep the banking system afloat. Labour ministers are now arguing that Trident should be scrapped on grounds of cost – treasonous opinion just a few short months ago.
James Connolly had it right – “our demands most modest are – we demand the earth”
What I don’t like about politicians – and I sense that this is the root of public dislike of politicians as a group – is that they not only debate and draft legislation, they have the final vote on whether proposed legislation actually becomes the law.
Just as Marx wrote about how we are as workers often alienated from our work because we have limited control – and this is something we have unions for – we are also alienated from lawmaking, and this is why we root for different political parties. But what we ultimately desire is to have our say in matters that affect us as citizens – just as we like to be consulted on decisions that affect us in the workplace.
So, I’d much rather that we got to vote on “the final reading” as they call it in Westminster. This wouldn’t make politicians and political parties redundant, but would rather encourage more people to vote in elections.
Bethan, you seem to be one the rare politicians who is there for us, not for their own personal self gratification and means to the top.
You involve yourself in things and are honest about yourself and your ideals.
I hope that the mire which the political world is, doesn’t bring you down to it’s level as you get older, keep on being true to yourself and honest to us.
Thank you
There is nothing wrong with what you are saying; all research that I conducted and referenced for my post-grad dissertation showed that politicians working together and not carping at each other was popular with people.
Unfortunately, no one party is willing to give up on those attacks, that includes your own. Every single party is up to their neck in attacking for the sake of it and nothing actually changes, despite your nice words.
So it is great that you have provided the analysis, one with genuine sentiments behind them I am sure, but you are part of one of the guilty parties. It is like the boss of a dodgy investment bank saying, “Chucks, I don’t like making risky deals and trying to make my bonus using short termism, but we all do it. I thought I would just say I don’t really like doing it.”
If your own analysis is correct, calling on your party to take the higher ground would surely derive electoral benefit?
You have my total support if you propose what you and your party will do to alter this status quo, you could start by denouncing staff attack blogs which post attacks anonymously.
Marcus,
‘Unfortunately, no one party is willing to give up on those attacks’.
‘You have my total support if you propose what you and your party will do to alter this status quo’.
Does that mean you don’t give your own party total support, because as you said all parties do the same thing.
I think it says a lot about you that you feel you have to brag about your qualifications all the time, who cares!!
Because you may have certain qualifications does not mean you have knowledge of life and all it entailes.
Marcus, I was with you right up to the last paragraph – Mr Pot meet Mr Kettle….
I love politics and I am an elected councillor myself. I have experienced the cynicism and apathy of some people which does make you wanna jack it all in sometimes. However I just remind myself that I want to help people and improve my community and I soldier on.
I am however deeply concerned about what is happening in Ireland. When the people have rejected the Lisbon Treaty. They are now forced by a political elite to hold the referendum again. I think the sovereignity of the Irish state has been desecrated. Ireland may have done very well economically and financially out of the EU. However I feel it will prove to be a Faustian pact. The Irish defeated an Empire for the right to live as a free nation and now I fear that they are trapped in a new empire. Ireland may now be a land of shiny yuppie flats and designer outlets but their hard-won institutions will soon be empty shells with no power. I despise those self-serving European elite politicans e.g. Mandelson, Kinnocks et al. Politics will be dead if they get their way. Nations are the colours on the European palette. Who wants it as bland a grey as the politicians suits? I know I don’t!
I notice the plaidees are having a bash again.
My point was clear – all politicians indulge in the dark arts, including Labour.
Plaid are the ones who run anon attack blogs. If that is not a fact, then I will eat my hat.
Bethan knows that Plaid staff are doing so, she just refuses to condemn it.