MURRAY FOOTE: It should concern us all if politicians are believed to be less than human |
You may remember a couple of years ago BBC Scotland presenter Kaye Adams dropped a clanger on her live radio phone-in.
During a discussion on the Covid Inquiry, she expressed her view that Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf “are not humans, they are politicians”.
I don’t know Kaye Adams from, well, Adam. But I choose to believe she was guilty of a cack-handed manner of expression rather than holding a genuine opinion that politicians are a different species.
I raise this incident now because an acquaintance of mine – who is not particularly politically engaged – made a similar observation earlier this week.
It should concern us all if politicians are widely believed to be less than human by sections of the electorate.
It also got me considering the vagaries of why people enter politics in the first place and why some of them become Cabinet Ministers.
More fun watching Dundee United lose
Quite frankly, I’d rather watch a recording of Dundee United’s 11 Hampden cup final defeats on an endless loop than stand for public office.
Every word, every gesture, every action is analysed to the nth degree and any deviation from perfection is seized upon as proof that you are unsuited to the job.
Some people seek Cabinet responsibility and others have Cabinet responsibility thrust upon them. In this respect, politics is the same as every other workplace.
We’ve all had colleagues who were very good at what they did but lacked certain traits to be in charge. Unsurprisingly it is the same with politics.
There are parliamentarians across the chamber who – for a multitude of reasons – never have and never will catch a whiff of the Mr Sheen that polishes the Bute House Cabinet table.
But that does not mean they have not made significant contributions serving their constituents as diligent backbenchers.
MSPs enter politics to do the best
It is, after all, what we primarily elect 129 MSPs to do and it is a full-on, all-consuming gig.
In my experience, despite accusations to the contrary, MSPs enter politics to do the best they can for those who elect them. That some of them reject any ambition to be in government to concentrate on being a good MSP is a position to be commended rather than condemned as a character flaw.
The expression “a camel is a horse designed by a committee” means government will always require a decision-making pyramid where the people at the top ultimately call the shots.
And, in our current system, that requirement exposes some challenging parliamentary arithmetic.
First Minister John Swinney has 59 SNP colleagues with whom he must form a government, currently comprising the FM himself, 11 Cabinet Secretaries and 11 junior ministers. A total compliment of 23 means one in three SNP MSPs are serving in government.
It also means the FM doesn’t have a huge choice when selecting colleagues to fill what are vitally important positions.
He is selecting Scotland’s Government, with responsibility for billions of pounds in public spending, not a bowling club committee.
Little choice but to swing the axe
Those chosen must both want the job and possess the skills and temperament to do it well. It’s an onerous task and it’s not for everyone.
A significant number of those 59 potential candidates don’t harbour the ambition, while some don’t fancy the significant additional workload, stress and personal sacrifice that the job demands.
For a whole host of reasons, others recognise they are just not cut out for it – not least because of that intense public scrutiny.
It means the First Minister has limited options on what was already a short shortlist.
This reality is perhaps one of the factors First Ministers must consider when faced with the hugely difficult decision to remove from post any government colleague who has found themselves mired in one difficulty or another.
Ministers are primarily chosen because the First Minister believes they are the best available candidate for the job. If they must be replaced, the fear is that the replacement won’t be quite as capable as the minister being shown the door.
If a minister’s position has become untenable, in most cases it is the weight of public opinion that ultimately forces a decision anyway, leaving the First Minister with little choice but to swing the axe.
But balancing personal loyalty to a valued colleague, doing what is right and proper with what the public expects, while retaining the best people around the Cabinet table is difficult for those who rise to the highest office in the land. I do not envy their task.
It’s simply a consequence of our parliamentary arithmetic. Increasing the number of MSPs would certainly widen the pool of available candidates.
In the meantime, we really shouldn’t be surprised that such decisions take a little longer than sometimes seems necessary.
Because, first and foremost, politicians of all parties are as entirely human as the rest of us.
Help The Courier put YOUR concerns directly to the politicians seeking your vote as we head to the Scottish Parliament election in May.
You can access our survey here and inform our coverage across the region.