There\u2019s a cartoon in the latest edition of the satirical magazine \u201cPrivate Eye\u201d which encapsulates the UK\u2019s current political situation. An extra-terrestrial , having just landed its space-craft on Earth, is consulting a passer-by for advice: \u201cTake me (it asks) to anyone who remotely resembles a leader\u201d.<\/p>\n
Assuming this conversation is taking place in London (perhaps Hyde Park), where should \u201cET\u201d go next? If it can wait until this Wednesday, the Prime Minister\u2019s official residence at 10 Downing Street would be the obvious destination. That\u2019s when Theresa May takes over as the successor to David Cameron \u2013 who, after insisting during the Referendum campaign that he would continue in office irrespective of the outcome, promptly resigned on the morning of Friday 24th<\/sup> July when it became clear that \u201cLeave\u201d had won. This decision provoked the anger of former Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock, who told The Guardian in an interview on 9th<\/sup> July that it had been Cameron\u2019s \u201cduty & job as captain to stay on the bridge\u201d, at least until the immediate post-Brexit turbulence has subsided.<\/p>\n Does ET have any other options? Not, for the moment at least, UKIP (The United Kingdom Independence Party): It\u2019s leader, Nigel Farage, stepped down from the role on 4th<\/sup> July in order \u201cto get his life back\u201d after achieving his 17-year ambition to take the UK out of the European Union.<\/p>\n Hyde Park, however, is just a brisk walk from High Street Kensington, where the Labour Party has its provisional HQ. The only drawback is that ET might not get an opportunity to meet the man nominally in charge of Her Majesty\u2019s Official Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn. He\u2019s currently busy \u201cclinging on\u201d to his position , despite The Observer\u2019s editorial of 3rd<\/sup> July depicting him as \u201cfinished as a credible national politician\u201d and more than 172 of his own MPs demanding he quit.<\/p>\n The American \u201cpioneer in leadership studies\u201d, Warren Bennis, has defined leadership as \u201cthe capacity to translate vision into reality\u201d. For his compatriot, the pastor John C.Maxwell, \u201c a leader is someone who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way\u201d. There\u2019s a prevailing view that aspiring politicians should gain experience in the \u201coutside world\u201d before attempting to enter Parliament. The Independent\u2019s Steve Richards disagrees. He notes that \u201cWhen outsiders move into politics they often struggle to adapt. They make mistakes because they do not understand the unique rhythms of politics, the fatal dangers of one word out of place\u201d. For him, communication is vital: \u201cLeaders have to find a way to convey what they stand for and must be (or become) a decent speaker and an engaging interviewee\u201d.<\/p>\n Richards lists as \u201cthe absolute number one qualification\u201d previous ministerial experience, or at least some background political battles \u2013 the lack of which was viewed by many commentators as the main weakness of Andrea Leadsom, who on 11th<\/sup> July abruptly withdrew her candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party. This means that Theresa May – considered by The Guardian as \u201ca safe pair of hands\u201d and described by her fellow MP Ken Clarke as \u201c a bloody difficult woman\u201d \u2013 no longer faces any competition and so will become the UK\u2019s next Prime Minister.<\/p>\n Most politicians and members of the public would probably concur with Richard\u2019s view that \u201cleaders should possess boundless energy, the ability to respond to unexpected crises and be genuinely courageous\u201d \u2013 but not with his insistence that they \u201cmust be indifferent to criticism and attacks from the media\u201d. On the contrary, the press reflects popular opinion on key issues which a Prime Minister needs to take into consideration.<\/p>\n Richard\u2019s assertion, however, that \u201cthere is no point in having a programme that is guaranteed to lose an election\u201d is an accurate reflection of the ongoing battle for control of the Labour Party. Most of its MPs share Kinnock\u2019s view that they risk being reduced to a \u201csocial protest movement\u201d, merely angry voices shouting from the sidelines instead of acting as \u201ca strong, effective opposition holding the Government to account\u201d. Hilary Wainwright, on the other hand, argued in the \u201cNew Statesman\u201d on 5th<\/sup> July that \u201ctoday\u2019s mood of anti-establishment politics has changed what it means to be a leader\u201d, that Corbyn\u2019s personality, style and principles mean he is the ideal person to \u201cgive a voice to those who have no vested interest in the system\u201d.<\/p>\n The Economist has portrayed Brexit as having led to \u201cAnarchy in the UK\u201d. The Observer has lamented the \u201cchaos, rancour and parade of pitiful leaders\u201d. The\u00a0 Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, has declared that \u201cEngland has collapsed: politically, monetarily, constitutionally and economically\u201d. The Spectator\u2019s riposte to all of them has been that \u201cBritain\u2019s strengths were never drawn from EU membership and won\u2019t be damaged by Brexit\u201d. The Referendum result, it proclaimed, was \u201cthe greatest ever vote of confidence in the United Kingdom\u201d and heralded \u201ca new chapter in the country\u2019s history\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s a cartoon in the latest edition of the satirical magazine \u201cPrivate Eye\u201d which encapsulates the UK\u2019s current political situation. An extra-terrestrial , having just landed its space-craft on Earth, is consulting a passer-by for advice: \u201cTake me (it asks) to anyone who remotely resembles a leader\u201d. Assuming this conversation is taking place in London […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":924,"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions\/924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colindgordon.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}