Community: Real Life

Celebrity politicians


John Tinney

John was born and bred in Glasgow and is currently studying Politics and History at university. He's partial to gigging, reading, football and Jack Daniels.

John thinks that the cult of personality is ruining politics and we're losing track of important issues.

Do we really need more politicians like Tony Blair who are about as convincing as a chop shop car salesman in Hollyoaks? I shudder to think of a Parliament full of Tony Blair's who smile promising universal bliss while bending us over at the same time and never calling back. The cult of personality has engulfed politics to such an extent that serious political analysts and news channels seem fixated on absolute drivel. There needs to be more debate on the real issues that affect people's lives and less emphasis on frivolous and pointless topics.

People are losing jobs around the world due to a shameless culture of greed that has left us teetering on the edge of the abyss. But never fear as Barack Obama's here...Well kind of, he's getting a new dog for the White House and David Cameron is washing dishes on YouTube.

For all Gordon Brown's dubious policy decisions (10p tax rate fiasco anyone?) people are once again more consumed with his character. And while our first among equals may seem as entertaining as receiving a gas bill during a Siberian winter... he's a politician. I repeat, a P-O-L-T-I-C-I-A-N. He's not meant to be Iggy Pop on a bender in CBGB'S . And will Gordon please stop the bogus smiling to appease these personality freaks; you look like a constipated ventriloquist puppet. It is becoming increasingly excruciating to watch these politicians brandishing sub par Jack Nicholson grins and wearing L'Oréal products. Gordon Brown: "Cos I'm worth it." Eh, I think not mate. The spin doctors who have hijacked politics and shoddy media coverage have a lot to answer for.

"Too many people have forgotten that politicians can be boring and effective operators. The electorate are not target markets that have to be sold personalities."

I ask you... What is this? Where are the serious policy debates? Even Prime Minister Questions in the UK descends into nothing but a glorified slagging match between two rival football teams. "Well you're a ditherer and your chancellor has white hair and black eyebrows" and "He's a public schoolboy bully with a high forehead". This has been done ad nauseum in British and Western politics in recent years and I'm sick of it. We need serious politics for serious times, not fickle reality television bullshit. Too many people have forgotten that politicians can be boring and effective operators. The electorate are not target markets that have to be sold personalities. The party strategists that construct these façades need to venture outside Westminster and breathe the same air as human beings.

Inevitably, personality will always be a factor in any sphere; including politics, but for it to dominate the complexion of government is as insane as the notion of a celibate Mick Jagger. Maniacal grins and ad hominem arguments will only inspire more electoral apathy in me. With the simple plurality system that exists in Westminster there has to be a clear distinction between the policies of the major parties and less obsession with the personalities.

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Updated: 19/06/2009


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