From the ladys not for turning to spin city.....

Back in the heady days of the 1980's when bankers could do not wrong, greed was good, capitalism was the saviour of the planet and market foirces ruled we had a political leader who perfectly matched the times. Love her or loath her Mrs Tatcher, now Baroness Thatcher was a force to be reckoned with. Her famous speech regarding the pressure she was under to reverse her position on economic policy in which she gave the quote "You turn if you want to, the ladys not for turning" was one of many high points in her career, and there can be little doubt that she was an indomitable presence. However, whilst she may not have been for turning on her policies, she was also the first Prime Minister to openly employ media consultants and to court popularity through media engagement. From the start of her political career she was carefully groomed for high office, with voice coaching to make her oratory more acceptable, power dresssing to increase her visual presence, carefully scripted speeches and carefully manicured performances in interviews.

This position has, unfortunately in my opinion, set the tone for everyone who has come after her. The arch exponent of this new form of politics was of course Tony Blair, but even here we see a style of presentation that owes a significant debt to the work already begun with Baroness Thatcher. I have little doubt that the majority of those who seek political office do so with the best intentions at heart, and from a genuine desire to try to shape our nation for the better, but it seems that once they begin to move through the party ranks towards the front benches they are haried on all sides by advisors and mentors and coaches changing the way they stand, the way they dress, the way the speak, even the words they say.

It is not for nothing that one of the favourite comedy programmes of the majority of politicians used to be "Yes, Minister" which highlighted in a tremendously tongue in cheek way, the role of civil service mandarins in corrupting and modifying the stances of even quite senior politicians. I well remember enjoying quiet a long chat with a very senior member of the Labour opposition from the Thatcher era and being quite shocked and surprised to discover that even a character as strong and forthright and powerful as this statesman felt shackled by his own parties media consultants, who, to paraphrase his own words, had no mandate from the electorate, no political beliefs, and shared few of the moral and ethical standards espoused by the people that they were advising.

It seems a shame to me that the era of true political values seems to have disappeared. Perhaps it will return one day, when the cult of celebrity has passed, when Big Brother and X-Factor are no longer topping the viewer ratings, when newspapers aren't sold on the basis of who has the best gossip, when we finally understand that without real substance we are as nothing as a society, but cynic that I am, I am not sure if this is even possible.....