Just who are the real cynics?
One great unmentionable about politics is the cynicism and venality of the electorate as opposed to the politician. I have been in the game for so long that I really don’t have anything much to lose by being honest about it but most of my younger colleagues daren’t actually say what they really think.
How many times have I been abused on the doorstep? “All politicians are corrupt, liars and cheats”, “Oh, not you”, they speedily retort when I protest that they are saying I am corrupt, a liar and a cheat.
Yet, they continue, “Politicians don’t give straight answers. They change their minds according to circumstances. They are only in it for their own ends.” The litany is never ending, especially if it is “them, politicians” that are being criticised. Jo and equally Joanna Public back off slightly when actual names are mentioned.
The reality of my experience is that in 44 years of seeing and meeting hundreds of councillors of all parties, the overwhelming impression is of people who want to do “good” and want to make a difference. It is true that I can’t abide the ruinously destructive nature of some Tory policies; and there are, or certainly have been ,Tory councillors I didn’t much like – it was probably mutual. But even the most grotesquely right-wing act, on the whole, out of a sincere belief in the “rightness” of what they are doing.
This observation is actually not so surprising. Just who would want to spend dark winter evenings tramping the streets canvassing, being abused by some and having doors slammed in one’s face, merely to end up as a candidate in a no-hope Council seat – the kind of seat that your party has never won. Or, if you were a bit lucky (though some come to think of it as unlucky!), in a winnable seat when you then become a back-bencher sitting through endless boring evenings, which would drive most ordinary people to distraction.
I haven’t met and known so many MPs but I’m certainly on terms with quite a large number, past and present. And they are the same! I am not sure that I have ever met one who didn’t at least start with the intention of doing the “right thing”.
Again this is not so surprising. Both MPS and councillors expose themselves on a daily basis to abuse, ridicule, and contempt as well occasionally as respect, admiration and just possibly but very rarely genuine affection. You have to be pretty tough to do that and it would be even tougher if you really were a cynic as well. Why would one bother unless driven by a desire to make things better? Not for the money, that’s for sure.
No, the really shocking thing, as a politician, is just how cynical the electorate often appears to be. Not of course that the electorate is one person and consistent. It is rather a hydra-headed monster. It wants brilliant services but not to pay taxes. It is too busy to read campaign material or watch party political broadcasts or heavyweight political programmes but then it complains that the rights and wrongs of the Eurozone, the EU, western foreign policy and economics have not been explained to them. The public wants easy solutions to inherently complex questions but it most particularly doesn’t want to think about the issues on its own account.
And the most damning thing that Jo and Joanna Public say is that “You are all the same!” Particularly when in the same breath Jo accuses politicians of “playing party politics”. Why, they say, don’t you just talk together and agree what is in the best interests of the country, when over a pint they themselves can’t even agree on who is England’s best centre-forward.
Oh, my. The electorate can teach any politician I have ever known an awful lot about cynicism and negativity. I think the problem is that it is us, the politicians, who are the gullible ones naively hoping that at least some of the public will think about and empathise with just some of what we have to say and what we promise.
Do I have a solution to this conundrum? I am not sure that I do but if you believe that the electorate gets the politicians that they deserve and that equally the politician gets the electorate that s/he deserves, then all you can do is to put the case as honestly and as persuasively as one can. And hope to win – in the long run.
Tony Belton
Tony Belton 
Notwithstanding the fact that I agree that one should not generalise (all politicians are corrupt), I disagree with white washing politicians of major wrong doing. One of the first reason is that a lie in politics can have great consequences for many, while a lie from an individual might not affect (often) more than a close circle. Why would one bother, you asked? It is in human nature to appreciate honours and search for gratification, and being a councillor and a MP is one of them, that is worth the sacrifice of some boring evening for many. Another reason is that, unlike most people, politicians have a tribune to express their cynicism (when there is some), therefore more visible when delivered.
Alas I cannot agree more on what you say about the electorate. Yes you are right on EU, taxes, services, etc. Most people don’t have time , most people don’t want to take time. They want a clear path, black or white, when the correct one is probably sort of greyish, and anyway a bit more complicated. But in theory (although apparently not in practice) that is why they elect people to take those responsibilities, and not to serve primarily their own ambition, agenda and honour thirst.
PS: I agree with the last paragraph.
TB,
Thank you for this outstanding piece. Absolutely first rate.
TT >
Tony,
Thanks for that. What are you doing for XMAS?
Totally agree with this article. Don’t want to pay taxes. higher CT, VAT but still want services; don’t bother to read even the shortest political article, yet tar everyone with the same brush or say they cannot be bothered to vote. Our ancestors fought long and hard for the right to vote, for the right to get involved – and we just bin it.