This week, the UK turned out to polling stations in schools,
community centres and churches – one of my colleagues even found himself voting
from the back of a car (I think something went wrong there, or maybe this is a
Yorkshire thing….) – to decide on who would run our country for the next 5 years. The rest, as they say, is history,
with the right-wing Conservative party taking an unexpected majority and
securing their place in leadership. It all then hit the fan among the other
parties, with the leaders of their 3 main oppositions stepping down in quick
succession of each other.
I guess I just wanted to put my two cents out there, and
share a few thoughts on the topic. If you’ve heard enough about it already,
feel free to tune out, but I’m not going to write about each party’s policies per
se. I’m also not going to pretend that I am in anyway an expert on politics.
This is the first general election I have been old enough to vote in, and I may
be young, naïve and optimistic. I can only just about grasp an understanding of
how our political system works (the lack of political education in schools in
this country deserves a post all of its own). But I do have an opinion, and I
am a person that will be governed by this outcome, so I figure that makes me at
least slightly qualified.
The first point I’d like to make is about how ugly I find
politics to be. So often during this campaign, I have heard party leaders, MP
candidates and supporters speaking so incredibly negatively about their opposition.
Firstly, I don’t want to hear and I don’t think it is okay for them to insult
other people (because, in spite of everything, politicians are people). Secondly, your policies should speak for themselves. I’m
not going to pretend that I have been perfect in this respect; I have definitely
become a little personal when I especially haven’t agreed with something. For
this, I hold my hands up and I’m sorry. I’m a work in progress, as is everyone.
But I do think it is particularly unprofessional to be so disrespectful to
people when you are in the public eye, and people are looking to you for
leadership. I want a party to win on policy, not on how much they can degrade
their competitors.
In line of this, I don’t think it is right that the 3 other
party leaders resigned immediately after their loss. I understand that there is
a lot going on behind the scenes; possibly unrest within parties, and they may
have been asked to step down. Maybe you could say that they didn’t do their job
of leading their party to victory, and therefore should lose their position. Maybe
somebody is not “up to the job” of leading the party/country. This time around,
they didn’t win. People chose to vote for someone else. Perhaps it would be
better to take some time to listen to people (which, by the way, I think is a
big lack on the part of politicians in general) and figure out why, before
jumping the gun and stepping down.
Having looked at politicians, I turn to the voters. I think
we have a tendency to expect our politicians to be super human; to make the
right choice for everyone all the time. Realistically, this isn’t going to
happen; mistakes are made, and sometimes, very very regrettably, people suffer
the fallout. Leading the country, and making such massive decisions is a huge job, certainly more responsibility
than I’ve ever been up for having. To have that much pressure on you, that you
feel like such a failure that you must resign if you lose, is surely not a good
thing. Let’s honour our leaders, whether we agree with their opinions or not.
First off, I speak for myself when I say that I definitely don’t think I could,
or want to, take on that role. It takes some guts to put yourself on that
public pedestal. Secondly, I would really hope that they are trying to lead in
the way that they think is best. I have no defence for things such as the
expenses claims issue, and I really do know that people are hurting because of
decisions that they may have made. But I’d bet that those decisions were rarely
taken lightly; perhaps they come from a place of misunderstanding or ignorance.
Let’s be graceful and encouraging, as hard as that is, trying to let them know
what we think in a more positive way than piling on more pressure than they’ve
already got. Maybe they’ll do a better job because of it.
Finally, I’d like to make a point about how we treat each
other. We are so, so fortunate to live in a democracy, with freedom of belief, however
theoretical or biased it may seem sometimes. I can go to church, and share my
beliefs, without fear of oppression, imprisonment or worse. In a democracy,
people are meant to be able to share their political views freely in honest
debate, vote for whomever they wish without feeling judged, and also disagree
with each other. This is not a licence
for people to personally insult others, or say their opinion is any less valid
that yours. I’d even say that it is okay to say that you think someone is wrong, as long as you have a fair, informed
and reasoned argument, and take the time of day to ask them why they think what
they do (you never know, you might learn something new). In a democracy,
sometimes you will get a government that you do not agree with. But people
voted for them, people with as much right to vote for whomever they like as you,
and I’m sure they have their reasons. So instead of complaining, and treating
people with contempt, and posting unforgiving status’ on social media, I think
(and I am all too aware how hippy-ish and idealistic this sounds…) we should
direct our energy to understanding where each other is coming from. This goes
for both sides. And then we can argue more effectively and compassionately, and
spend time getting our opinions (hopefully) heard by our new MPs.
I think it’s about time that politics became a ground with
more respect for each other. “I don’t feel respected”, I hear you cry. Well,
maybe somebody has to make the first move. And then maybe, just maybe, politics
can become about opinions and policy and understanding. Surely it has to start
somewhere.
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