What do you think of Keir Starmer ? This was one of the questions put to focus groups on a recent BBC TV programme. He seems trustworthy; boring; sits on the fence; uninspiring…

These were some of the responses from the group. I came away, thinking, what does it matter what we think of Keir Starmer ? (leader of the labour party in England, in case you didn’t know).

What really matters is the policies that the labour party will put into action when they become the new government, hopefully sometime this year. One of the problems with politics in this country is that it is becoming increasingly like what we see in the USA. There, everything seems to be about Joe Biden, or Donald Trump. We don’t hear a lot about what the Democrats stand for or what the Republicans stand for. How can we judge, make decisions, plan our country’s future on the basis of one person and how we think they will perform. Of course it’s never going to be about one person anyway, so why do we try and make it so.

So what I’m thinking is this: our tendency to make politics about individuals is more about us than about them – the politicians themselves. It’s about the culture of celebrity and personality that we have allowed to invade every area of our lives. From chefs to actors to social media influencers to musicians to sports personalities – everywhere we look, we see a celebrity or a wanna celebrity. We’ve been conditioned. We’ve been duped. We’ve been told to aspire to follow our dreams. We’ve been told that we can have anything we want.

So a political election simply turns into a popularity contest, where the person who promises you the most wins your vote.

Unless of course, you’re interested in what’s best for the weakest, the most vulnerable, the ones overlooked or not even seen; unless the values that drive you are empathy, being open hearted, seeking the common good ….

We can only hope. We must hope. We will hope.

To think more about this have a look here. Very interesting.