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November 6th, 2008 · Posted by Skuds in Politics · No Comments · Politics

You would not expect Hazel Blears’ comments on political blogging to be well received by political blogs, and the reaction has been predictably hostile.  Personally, I don’t think she has really got it, but I am a lot more interested in some of the other topics she talked about.

Bloggers will zoom in on the comments about blogging, but for me the most important part of the speech is the part about the political classes and career politicians.

“Increasingly we have seen a ‘transmission belt’ from university activist, MP’s researcher, thinktank staffer, special adviser, to MP, and ultimately frontbench. Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of those jobs, but it is deeply unhealthy for our political class to be drawn from narrowing social base and range of experience.”

Politics needs “more people who know what it is to worry about the rent collector’s knock, or the fear of lay-off,” she will say, “so that the decisions we take reflect the realities people face. In short, we need more Dennis Skinners, more David Davises, more David Blunketts in the front line.”

Whether the solution is, as she suggests, and Emily’s List equivalent to encourage non-politicians into politics is another matter. I am just glad to see the increasing dominance of politicians who have avoided the real world being given some prominence. Except it has not really got that much prominence because the comments on the media and blogging have drawn all the attention.

Many workers, especially youngsters, are in jobs where they do not know from week to week how many hours they will work.  They struggle to make ends meet and can’t budget for their lifestyle when their wages fluctuate. They can only get by if they work overtime and are offered shifts they would rather not work but cannot turn down because they need the hours and get exploited as a result.  Legislation can help here, and has done, but how effective will it be if none of the legislators have experienced such things?

In so many other ways the lack of real-life experience by (Westminster) politicians makes them less effective.  Most local politicians do live in the real world but they have very little chance to do anything as local government is bound by rules set in Westminster.  That political career fast-track completely by-passes local government.

The tragedy is that the Labour party is now affected by this as much as much as anybody.  In the past there were more Labour MPs who arrived via trade unions where they saw many of the problems faced by normal workers first-hand. Now there is a growing number of Labour MPs taking that fast-track route.  They do have a lot to offer, and to exclude them would be wrong, but if they dominate parliament then there are diminishing returns. Our system of government is supposed to be representative and at the moment it is not.

Is it any wonder there is disengagement and cynicism about politics when there is a de facto division between voters and candidates?   It is as if there is a closed shop for parliament where those in the running come from a different place to the electorate.  In America this manifested itself in candidates making much of their status as political outsiders and voters responding to that. Over here that has not happened (yet?).  Instead the electorate are just turned off by being faced with choices between several candidates with whom they have no common ground.

Would it be so wrong if those who are setting the agenda for local government had been councillors for a few years?  If those making laws about minimum wages and benefits had worked a minimum wage job or had to live on benefits at some point?

‘Cynical’ or ‘nihilistic’ blogs are not the cause of this voter apathy or voter hostility – they are just another manifestation of it.  While Hazel Blears has correctly identified one problem with our political situation, she has got cause and effect absolutely wrong.  At the same time those political bloggers are likely to direct their response to Blears’ comments about them and not the underlying problems because at times the small circle of political bloggers can be as inward-looking as ‘Westminster Village’ itself.

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