Ross McKibbin, in a fine article in the current London Review of Books, predicts that there wouldn't be a lot of difference between a Brown or Cameron government. The so-called centre ground of British politics is a very crowded space these days and we mustn't forget about the Lib Dems. Brown and Cameron would lead an essentially "businessman's government", perhaps the former's would be a little more enlightened than the latter's but the difference would scarcely register on any political scale. McKibbin runs through Brown's record as Chancellor and reminds us that he has always wanted to create an economic environment conducive to an American idea of business success. And over the weekend we have seen other examples of Brown's American leanings.
The most arresting passage in the LRB article runs thus:
the country’s political elite is now largely divorced from the country; probably to a greater degree than at any time since the 19th century. This elite is drawn from an increasingly narrow social range: primarily from the law, the media, political and economic consultancy and ‘research’. In the present cabinet, for example, there is only one former trade unionist.
This makes the British political elite even more occupationally skewed and unrepresentative than our own. An Irish study a few years ago showed that there has been little change in the occupational and educational backgrounds of our public representatives to reflect the changes in the wider economy. In the 1997 - 2002 Dáil an occupational breakdown of the 166 Deputies showed that there were 23 farmers, 37 teachers, 15 lawers and 7 accountants. The remaining 63 deputies were mainly full-time career politicians, social workers, trade union officials, auctioneers, publicans and doctors. Not one Dail deputy had had experience working in technology, electronics, pharmaceuticals or in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
The people who constitute the Irish political class have demonstrated qualities in one very particular way; they are very good at getting themselves elected. Specifically, they have been able to embed themselves in local baliwicks and garnered for themselves the kind of personal local reputations that are required for success in Irish electoral politics. Certain jobs allow more opportunities for people to become involved in local politics. It's hardly surprising that the Dáil is full of teachers.
In the UK the vast majority of the nearly 650 MPs are elected from single member constituencies that are generally safe for one or other of the two big parties. Therefore all that is required is to secure a nomination to run. It's a different dynamic altogether and a great advantage is that parochialism is not a feature of British politics. But as McKibben shows, British political elites are now highly atypical of the electorate thay are supposed to represent.
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