The way that government ministers are selected is absurd. No other high-paying job in the world would allow someone with no prior knowledge of the subject to be put in a managerial position in the way that ministers are. Yet, as is the case with everything related to the government, it’s not so much one rule for us and another rule for them, as it’s lots of rules for us, and no rules for them…
Under Tory leadership (2010–2024), we had a total of sixteen people hold the position of housing minister, with some lasting only seven weeks in the role (Lee Rowley, 2022). Rowley went to university (Oxford, of course) to study Modern History. With no prior background in housing, the question is, ‘Why aren’t decisions being made by experts/people who actually know what they’re talking about?’
It’s not just a Tory issue, either, but a parliament-wide one, as we can see in our current government headed by Keir Starmer…
The current secretary of state for Health & Social Care, as of December 2024, is Labour’s Wes Streeting. Streeting studied History at the University of Cambridge. As for the secretary of state for Transportation, the role is filled by Heidi Alexander who studied Geography at Durham University.
With no qualifications or equivalent experience working in a directly related job to housing or transportation, where is the rationale for having the most important decisions about our country being made by people who have no idea about the subject matters?
We only have to look at the fake promises that governments make to get in power, only to go against them all when they secure the key to number ten, to see the impact that selecting ministers, seemingly out of thin air, has on politics.
Policies make no sense because the people who are setting them have no clue how to implement them…
Can you imagine waking up one day to be delivered the news that you are now responsible for making all the decisions in the UK regarding health, with the onus now being on you to ensure the delivery of care in the NHS, despite having never done anything even remotely like this before?… This is the position that Ministers find themselves in upon being elected. Completely out of their depth, this is why their proposals so often make zero sense, because there is no logic behind them. They’ll say what sounds good because all they’re focused on is winning the seat. Upon winning the seat though? ‘Time to blag it.’
And so, this is why our country is in such a shambles. Because our attitude is one of ‘it will be okay’, as opposed to what it should actually be, ‘we’ll make it okay.’
Alas, we need less blagging, and more acting on knowledge and experience.
It’s wrong and it shouldn’t happen, but unfortunately in our current climate, to say that politicians shouldn’t lie about their policies is the biggest juxtaposition.
When democracy isn’t really democracy, but more so a case of ‘voting for the lesser of two evils’, and promises aren’t really promises, but more so a case of ‘make it and then break it’, like saying that babies shouldn’t cry, to say that politicians shouldn’t lie is, unfortunately, inevitable.
When power corrupts, the chance to be in power means that people will do anything to get to the top, at whatever cost… For, while they might not have any expertise in their field (at all), something that all politicians do have is a lack of morals.
Portfolio of Hope 