Selflessly dedicated to serving our society

Published on Monday 20 April 2009 22:08

MANY people will be feeling a little insecure at work at present – but imagine this nightmare scenario: your boss comes into work today and says you have four weeks to come up with a convincing reason why you should be kept on.

After the four weeks are up, your clients will vote to decide whether or not you should be retained.

If they give you the thumbs down, your humiliation will be published prominently in this and other newspapers, on radio and television bulletins and all over the internet.

You will also have to clear out your desk smartly because the person they have decided should take over from you (and who has been openly trying to get you out for years) wants to move in next week.

Throw in a spot of public vilification and it sounds like the employment contract from hell.

But it is not that far removed from the situation that faces our politicians – our elected representatives, lest we forget.

This does not of course attract any public sympathy – precisely the opposite.

Last year, senior politicians in Scotland were heavily criticised after the Beijing Olympics for rushing to get their pictures taken beside triple gold medal-wining cyclist Sir Chris Hoy and other gold medal winners.

The clear implication was that here was a clash of two worlds – the upstanding dedication of the elite athlete against the grubby underhand culture of the politician.

In fact – and I realise that after the seemingly relentless expenses scandals, and the disgraceful Number 10 e-mails and now the news about the extended summer holiday, this places me in fairly limited company – I believe there is more to admire in someone who aspires to be a political leader than a top sportsman or woman.

Those who seek to make it in sport generally do so because they love what they do, have prodigious talent and are prepared to make personal sacrifices to achieve their goal.

Their single-mindedness is admirable and often, although not always, they can act as positive role models with the consequent benefits for wider society.

But crucially in this regard very few will set out to be a brilliant athlete primarily because their overriding concern is for others. Unless you are an Old Firm footballer, you are also likely to escape intense comment on the nature of your character, what you wear, who you marry and where you choose to live.

For politicians, all the above comes with the territory and despite what most people think, I believe that almost all of them are motivated (at least at the start of their careers) mainly by a desire to improve the lot of their fellow citizens.

Working for the Scottish finance secretary, John Swinney, during the time that he was leader of the Scottish National Party, I understood that the most important characteristic a successful politician required was to have the thickest of thick skins.

I remember during one election watching a young candidate who had put years of his life into fighting a marginal seat that we expected to win having to mount the podium after news of his defeat came through.

Back at headquarters, I was obviously bitterly disappointed, but I enjoyed the comfort of anonymity.

He, on the other hand, in front of live television cameras, had to make a speech, listen to his conqueror and then in all likelihood go back home and replay in his mind the reasons for his defeat over and over again.

Some examples are hard to square with my view. Clearly, when the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith passes the bill for her patio heater on to the taxpayer, it can be hard to make the case for politics as a noble endeavour.

Even worse are the recent stories about Tony Blair's money-making since leaving office.

Cashing in on his period as prime minister instead of giving his thoughts freely gives ammunition to those who believe that politicians are only in it for what they can get.

But these are extreme examples of where public life has gone wrong.

In the current climate, this sounds hopelessly naive but for every story that appears to place political snouts in the trough, there are hundreds of others who enter and stay in politics because they believe in an ideal.

The big danger at present is that at a time when we hear constantly about the decline of community values, the current anti-politics mood persuades young, idealistic individuals that the downsides to a political career are just not worth putting up with.

In Scotland in particular, there are some huge issues to address – our national ill-health, unequal education system and the constitutional future of our country to name just a few.

This is a time when more than ever we need people to get involved.

So let's not allow a few ludicrous and unjustifiable expenses claims, or distasteful e-mails, to widen the gap even further between the elected and those who do the electing.

&#149 Ewan Crawford is the programme leader, graduate diploma in broadcast journalism, at the University of the West of Scotland and a former adviser to John Swinney.