The Powerlessness of Politicians…

Craig Oliver’s book (Director of Communications under Cameron) on the 2016 European referendum campaign compared well with the usual summer read of favourite thrillers. Fast paced and crisis riven, it summed up the day to day powerlessness of Cameron as Prime Minister as we hurtled towards exiting the EU. A constant papering over the cracks of a fractured Conservative Party, an intransigent Europe and manoeuvring around duplicitous, often contemptuous colleagues in the face of growing populism and a hostile 24-hour media seemed to reduce Cameron’s role to that of a passenger, albeit one who was responsible for starting the journey in the first place.

Now turn to Theresa May. Hostage to her cabinet and an agenda entirely driven by exiting Europe, her future as Prime Minister, for however long that is, is almost entirely outside her control.

This weakness is not about Europe or indeed the Conservative Party however. With a highly intrusive, (often rightly so but not always…) sceptical 24-hour media circus, global forces which constrain the power of even the most influential domestic politicians and an increasingly belligerent electorate who have lost respect for the political class, the powerlessness of politicians is everywhere. Take Donald Trump for example. Only six months into his job when he should at least be wielding some influence over domestic policy, he shouts angrily from the side-lines and has achieved almost nothing. Travel bans are neutered, Obama-care remains in place and even stepping away from the Paris climate agreement has become meaningless, as individual states and cities pledge to continue its implementation.

Except…In democracies the right moral tone about how societies should be run is everything. For all their faults, overseeing this is the legitimate role of politicians. It is why powerful businessmen should never be a substitute for the political class, as it is the very vulnerability of politicians that binds them to the electorate. Choosing the right words to respond to acts of terrorism, responding to tragedies and calming people in the face of crises is the real soft power in a democratic system. It keeps people together, leads them away from anger and prejudice and ultimately makes for a more humane society.

So with this in mind, in the light of recent events, shame on Donald Trump. His ugly response to the clashes in Charlottesville, his constantly aggressive, demeaning tone with opponents brings out the worst in some elements of American society. Even yesterday’s announcement of more US forces for Afghanistan was about ‘killing terrorists’ not nation building. In this sense, he has betrayed the power invested in the Presidency. Thankfully there are other political voices both at home and abroad to contradict him. But is this enough when such leading politicians are subtly far more influential than we realise?