Once more with feeling . . .
A genuine, practical suggestion for our new Prime Minister
We all understand the crisis of modern politics, right? We just don’t believe politicians any more (if we ever did). Too many promises made and then broken, too many inspiring visions unfulfilled, too much language that sounds focus-grouped (“As we’ve made perfectly clear. . .”).
But as Andy Burnham seeks to reset British politics in a way that hasn’t been attempted since Tony Blair became Labour leader in 1994, it’s worth reconsidering one of the great truths of politics: authenticity is the most important quality any politician can possess. If you don’t sound authentic, if you yourself don’t sound like you believe the words you’re actually saying, then you’re on a hiding to nothing. Why should your audience believe you when it’s clear that even you don’t believe you?
Policy matters, of course. But even the greatest, most effective, soundest policy can fail disastrously if the people promoting it don’t sound as if they have faith in their own project. The problem with authenticity is that too often in recent political history, it has been seen as something that only unelectable mavericks possess. National treasures like the late Ann Widdecombe or the late Tony Benn or the former MP for Bolsover, Dennis Skinner, were beloved by their own followers and respected even by their critics because they obviously believed what they said. Yet those same views barred them from achieving the highest office (though Benn made it as far as Cabinet). Does this mean that authenticity, while valued by the voters, must be discarded the higher up the greasy poll you climb, that it is incompatible with the most senior positions of political leadership?
