What we want: grown-up, authentic politicians

So much of this election isn’t about politics at all. It’s about two tight-knit groups of (mostly male) professional public speakers and image managers.

By Rowan Williams

MILTON KEYNES, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 4: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson adjusts his safety headphones during his visit to Red Bull Racing, as he resumes election campaigning, on December 4, 2019 in Milton Keynes, England. The UK will go to the polls on December 12, the third General Election in less than five years. (Photo by Hannah McKay-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Please can we have politics back? I mean the process of arguing about how to manage society in a sustainable way, distributing risks sensibly, handling conflict without violence, checking imbalances, investing in how we pay attention to people’s experiences and needs. And in our present context, this would mean a huge recalibration of national debate around the central question of sustainable growth and pushing back against what may still turn out to be irreversible environmental degradation.

So much of this election isn’t about politics at all in this sense. It’s about two tight-knit groups of (mostly male) professional public speakers and image managers walking a tightrope strung between the handling of internal party quarrels and constructing of vastly inflated promises aimed at an electorate assumed to be terminally naive. I know which I’d rather see lose (the present government), but I’m not sure that I want to see anyone win in a way that reinforces the model we are currently stuck with.