AIBU to want politicians with strong academic and business backgrounds?

[Catsandjkr]

AIBU to want politicans to be highly academically successful And have experience in running a business?

I'm so tired of these low grade politicians ruining our lives. They can lie (as Starmer exempifies), they don't need qualifications or experience to get the job. In inexplicable in other areas of life.

What a joke. But I suppose when its politicans like Lammy, Starmer, Reeves in charge, it won't ever change.

Thanks for this thread @Catsandjkr, this is a valid question.

I read an article in City AM yesterday, about the Centre for Government Reform.

“The Centre for Government Reform is new, co-chaired by Lord Agnew and Lord Nash — both businessmen and former ministers/non-executive government figures. Its stated aim is to train several hundred senior outsiders over three years for roles such as ministers, permanent secretaries, quango heads and senior advisers.”

Chat GPT

It sounds exciting. Do go onto the website. I will be following their progress and live in hope that a more able community of government representatives and leaders is in the pipeline.

Whatever one’s politics, this government has shown itself to be no different from past governments, just another day a different scandal.

It comes across as a government training on the job, an intern government.

And no accountability, just blame it on the last lot. That’s not grown up politics.

As for the infamous PPE degree, it can result in career politicians who have not worked in any area other than politics. A career path could be - university, activist, think tank, SPAD, safe seat MP, government.

Your logic is non existent. I've not made any comment on previous governments. I'm not a fan of Eton chums either.

Are you a business owner? I think that is a really strange requirement. There is a lot more to government than making money.
I'd rather have a parliament made up of people with varied backgrounds. Teachers, medical professionals, social workers, lawyers, working class people who understand the struggles those living in poverty face, disabled people who understand oppression and the importance of equality.

I think their morals, principles, conduct and ‘bedside manner’ (or lack thereof) are equally as important as how highly educated they are.

Starmer being a great example here. He’s clearly highly educated and was professionally successful as a barrister. But I cannot stand the man and whilst he might look good on paper, he’s intolerable as a politician.

I really don’t know what the answer is as they all seem to be selfish, self serving imbeciles. I think as a country we desperately need a PM that the British people can collectively look up to and respect but there’s far too much division in the UK for that to happen now.

That does sounds promising! I shall have a look. Thanks :)

Also, agreed.

I disagree with them having had to run their own business. That’s far too narrow.

If you think it's simply about disagreement I'll leave you to your overly simplistic interpretation. I certainly can't be bothered to waste my time explaining to you.

Clearly not.

You don’t think Starmer is highly academically successful? Give over. And I love that you’ve only focused on Labour politicians here - what were your thoughts on Johnson being PM?

Op named three politicians who are actually renowned in their respective fields
Two lawyers and an economist
Is this a reverse or something ?

I mean Elon Musk is a very successful businessman-shall we have people like that leading the country?

I want our politicians to be representative of our society as a whole, with a broad range of experience and insights from many different spheres. So that they can genuinely represent the interests of everyone in our society.

This

You can dislike Starmer as much as you want or not think he is a good PM, but why on earth would you say he isn’t ‘highly academically successful’? It just makes YOU sound uneducated.

Same. I love it that we have an MP who still does shifts as an A&E doctor.

Lammy, Starmer and Reeves are all highly academic. Bizarre that you would suggest otherwise.

We have too many career politicians. Who will say anything as long as it gets them voted in. Whether they believe in what they spout forth or not is irrelevant.
Problems have arisen as now we are no longer in Europe problems cannot be thrown over the fence as in we would like to but Brussels rules mean we cannot. Accountability to Westminster is back. And some are finding that tricky.

Some mentioned Elon Musk. Hopeless in Government. He sacked a load of people who had worked with an unblemished record accusing them of fraud. Some not unreasonably decided they were insulted by this. And took him to Court. The Court had to reinstate all of them. As his notion they were all frauds and wasteful he was unable to prove. He had none. The Court gave him time to provide evidence. He could not. What he had done was sack people on the basis of a sentiment and a line that sounded good to other people. But had no basis whatsoever in reality.

Bringing people in from the private sector to ‘show how it is done’ is nothing new. Often it is people with an eye on contracts, opportunities.
Nothing whatsoever to do with the public good.

I disagree. I don’t actually consider them to be academic. Highly educated, yes but not academic in the essence of what it is to be an academic. They don’t come across as deep thinkers, researchers or experts. They are highly professional but not academic in my experience.

Ah. Well, I’d rather a well educated person with real world experience, personally.

@CurlewKate, what world experience do they really have?

David Lammy most probably has one of the most elite educations of many MPs.

They don’t come across as worldly to me. They certainly are not reading the public mood at the moment.

I'd rather have some politicians whose lives more closely resembled the lives of most people in this country. The hordes that have followed that golden PPE Oxbridge to advisor to politician to MP route are extraordinarily out of touch with so many people's lives and I think it's been very damaging. (And I say that as an Ox graduate myself who was at college with a lot of these 2nd-raters.)

Who is reading the public mood?

@TopPocketFind, it doesn’t please me
to say this, but I’ll go for it! Nigel Farage.

Many will say he is not reading the room, but creating the room.

And again, same sentiment, sometimes Andy Burham.

Farage? Well he certainly fools a lot of people.

Man of the people he is not. His closeness to Trump could be a problem for him.

And why did he receive £5m just before deciding to stand as MP?