Why We Get the Wrong Politicians

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Thus, Her Majesty’s Government is in great chaos. What can be done? The politically disillusioned one will claim that attempting to reform Westminster is similar to that of redecorating a house with damaged plumbing and it is better to gut it out and start over. However, that is not completely true. As a matter of fact, there are various reforms that can lead to a positive change.

Why We Get the Wrong Politicians - Isabel Hardman - Google Books Why We Get the Wrong Politicians - Isabel Hardman - Google Books

I thought this was really good. It's a well-considered, non-judgemental examination of flaws in the way our parliament scrutinises legislation. It raised a lot of things that I'd not considered before, in particular: A randomly selected shadow parliament of 650 people wouldn’t have real power but would debate and decide on the same issues as parliament. Often divergences between the real parliament and the shadow one would be caused by the trappings of power: lobbyists, chumocracies, partisanship and electoral calculations. The shadow parliament would highlight when politicians were making decisions for all the wrong reasons. The 10-year MP makes sense on a personal level. But it does mean that parliament loses experience and wisdom, not to mention people who have only just worked out their way around the building. Politicians often repeat the mistakes of the past – the level of turnover in parliament makes it even more likely that no one will notice. Allen & Unwin Australia’s leading independent publisher of smart fiction and non-fiction, published in the UK through Atlantic Books.

Politics is a collective endeavour for confronting a shared horizon of unknown possibilities. Pivotal to this endeavour is those charged with making choices, the “political class” of this title. The question of this inquiry is whether it really matters who is in this “class”. Auditioning for a job with such a ridiculous financial drain, a job that you’re not even sure whether or not you will get it and this discourages a lot of people from standing. Worse, it makes it impossible for brilliant, poor individuals to go into government. In 1979 around 3 per cent of MPs had prior experience in politics or government; in 2015 this changed to 16.5 per cent. Over the same period, the percentage of former manual workers decreased from 16 to 3 per cent. A newer edition of this book can be found [119]here. Politicians are consistently voted the least trusted professional group by the UK public. They’ve recently become embroiled in scandals concerning sexual harassment and expenses. Every year, they introduce new legislation that doesn’t do what it sets out to achieve – often with terrible financial and human costs. But, with some notable exceptions, they are decent, hard-working people, doing a hugely difficult and demanding job. In this searching examination of our political class, award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman tries to square this circle. She lifts the lid on the strange world of Westminster and asks why we end up with representatives with whom we are so unhappy. Filled with forensic analysis and revealing reportage, this landmark and accessible book is a must read for anyone who wants to see a future with better government. Winner at the 2018 Parliamentary Book Awards Shortlisted for the 2018 Waterstones Book of the Year Daily Telegraph’s Best Books of the Year, 2018 Guardian’s Best Books of the Year, 2018 Evening Standard’s Best Books of the Year, 2018 Daily Mail’s Best Books of the Year, 2018 BBC’s Biggest Books, 2018 Prospect’s Best Books of the Year, 2018 Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman – eBook Details

Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman (Book Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman (Book

These people are mostly neglected; however, they are in charge of selecting the names on the UK ballot papers. There are mostly unrepresentative. It was revealed in 2013 by the Local Government Association that 67% of local councilors were male and 96% were ethnically white in which the average age of these councilors was 60 years.We can take certain steps to reform Britain’s political system and make sure we get good politicians. If you are wondering why a political party espousing family values elected Boris Johnson as their leader, why an environment secretary voted against the protection of UK waterways from untreated human sewage, or why billions of pounds of public money were spent on unusable protective equipment in a pandemic, you may well find answers here. And the depressing fact is that this book was published in 2018. Cassandra-like, the author warned us, and we did not listen. This is not a book about a political party or ideology, however; it is about politicians and political life in the UK. So, Her Majesty’s Government is in a royal mess. What can be done? The politically disillusioned will argue that trying to reform Westminster is like redecorating a house with faulty plumbing – better to gut it out and start again. But that’s not entirely true. In fact, there’s plenty reforms that can bring meaningful change. It might not have been a pacy thriller, but there is sex, love, scandal, tortured souls and obsessive characters, hopes, dreams and heartbreak in this book. Yes, it is layered with discussion of fire safety regulations and policy about cones on the motorway, but nonetheless Hardman’s book is a vital and compelling read for anyone interested in the way our politics does or doesn’t work .