Could the man off the street ever be the next UK PM?
Discussion
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Always wondered this. Looking at Zelensky (admittedly a well know figure before becoming president) I was thinking could this be done over here in the UK or is the prerequisite to have been educated at Eton?
I just sometimes wish we could have a no nonsense kind of person at the top. Someone we could relate to. Someone with an active interest in helping the average Brit. Prioritising the NHS, education, crime, employment. Things that actually matter to all.
Perhaps even regularly listening to the man off the street and doing something about it.... Wouldn't it be nice?
Always wondered this. Looking at Zelensky (admittedly a well know figure before becoming president) I was thinking could this be done over here in the UK or is the prerequisite to have been educated at Eton?
I just sometimes wish we could have a no nonsense kind of person at the top. Someone we could relate to. Someone with an active interest in helping the average Brit. Prioritising the NHS, education, crime, employment. Things that actually matter to all.
Perhaps even regularly listening to the man off the street and doing something about it.... Wouldn't it be nice?
John Major - brought up in a rented tenament building in Brixton, left school at 16 with 6 O levels, did a succession of dead end jobs before joining a bank as a back office junior and slogging his way up. Married a primary school teacher and, until he left office in 1997, lived on his MP/ministerial salary
Afraid that is pie in the sky thinking.
No one reaches there without some very serious financial, media & other backing, that usually means those who reach there are already compromised.
I do wish it was so, a decent man off the street becoming the PM, unfortunately the way it is set up it doesn't work that way.
No one reaches there without some very serious financial, media & other backing, that usually means those who reach there are already compromised.
I do wish it was so, a decent man off the street becoming the PM, unfortunately the way it is set up it doesn't work that way.
Margaret Thatcher also came from an entirely "normal" lower middle class background, albeit her husband was reasonably wealthy - though nowhere near as often claimed and certainly not rich.
Ted Heath was the son of a jobbing builder and born in a council house in Bexley, where his father was working as a joiner in a factory during WW1. He went to grammar school and then Oxford on a full scholarship. He was an army officer during WW2 and then worked as a civil servant and journalist before entering politics.
Jim Callaghan and Harold Wilson both came from normal working/lower middle class backgrounds and held down normal jobs before entering politics. Wilson was an economist/civil servant and Callaghan worked for the Inland Revenue
Ted Heath was the son of a jobbing builder and born in a council house in Bexley, where his father was working as a joiner in a factory during WW1. He went to grammar school and then Oxford on a full scholarship. He was an army officer during WW2 and then worked as a civil servant and journalist before entering politics.
Jim Callaghan and Harold Wilson both came from normal working/lower middle class backgrounds and held down normal jobs before entering politics. Wilson was an economist/civil servant and Callaghan worked for the Inland Revenue
Spare tyre said:
Years ago certainly possible
Spin, bs and half truths / no moral compass are what’s needed now
I hope I’m wrong
I think you are probably spot on. Being decent or principled (regardless of what those principles are) are completely secondary to personality, favourable media presentation and telling people what they want to hear (populism). Britain is still riven by class divides, where ability or aptitude is completely secondary to class or having gone to the correct school or university. Spin, bs and half truths / no moral compass are what’s needed now
I hope I’m wrong
There is a degree of snobbery in the way English voters and the establishment (as opposed to those in the other British constituents) perceive those not from the traditional ruling classes. Look at the way people like Angela Rayner are portrayed on here or in the media (gobby single mum). I believe Margaret Thatcher also faced an uphill battle due to her background and also gender, hence the exaggerated RP accent she adopted.
Newarch said:
There is a degree of snobbery in the way English voters and the establishment (as opposed to those in the other British constituents) perceive those not from the traditional ruling classes. Look at the way people like Angela Rayner are portrayed on here or in the media (gobby single mum). I believe Margaret Thatcher also faced an uphill battle due to her background and also gender, hence the exaggerated RP accent she adopted.
I would have no problem with a single mum brought up on a council estate becoming PM... but only if they were genuinely interested in bettering the whole of the country. Angela Rayner is fixated on rehashing the "tory b
ds" line which the hard left have trotted out for years as a way of rabble rousing. I would have no faith in her trying to do what is best for the country as a whole.Appreciate this might not be a popular opinion, say what you want about the Tories, but they do not actively look to f
k over certain sections of society. Their policies might benefit the rich, just about keep the middle classes happy, but the intention is to "pull" those less well off up at the same time. How effective it is is another matter.Politicians like Rayner would take great delight in f
king over the rich (or moderately well off) just for the sake of it. ClaphamGT3 said:
Margaret Thatcher also came from an entirely "normal" lower middle class background,
I thought her dad was a reasonably well off shopkeeper and alderman in Grantham. Not loaded but not quite normal. As said, John Major is our best example of a normal bloke off the street. Theresa May was the daughter of a country vicar and the Grand daughter of a lady's maid who went to a state school, and worked in industry, getting into national politics through grass roots involvement local Govt.
In fact, of the 10 PMs we have had in the last 58 years, six of them have been "men [or women] off the street" and only four have been career politicians from wealthy and privileged backgrounds. And that's before you make the argument that Gordon Brown was more "man off the street" than social and political elite.
In fact, of the 10 PMs we have had in the last 58 years, six of them have been "men [or women] off the street" and only four have been career politicians from wealthy and privileged backgrounds. And that's before you make the argument that Gordon Brown was more "man off the street" than social and political elite.
sat1983 said:
....
Always wondered this. Looking at Zelensky (admittedly a well know figure before becoming president) I was thinking could this be done over here in the UK or is the prerequisite to have been educated at Eton?
I just sometimes wish we could have a no nonsense kind of person at the top. Someone we could relate to. Someone with an active interest in helping the average Brit. Prioritising the NHS, education, crime, employment. Things that actually matter to all.
Perhaps even regularly listening to the man off the street and doing something about it.... Wouldn't it be nice?
Personally I want the smartest and best educated people to be in charge, irrespective of their background. Voting for people as stupid and ignorant as yourself has already afflicted the US. I hope it doesn’t cross over to the U.K. but suspect it will.Always wondered this. Looking at Zelensky (admittedly a well know figure before becoming president) I was thinking could this be done over here in the UK or is the prerequisite to have been educated at Eton?
I just sometimes wish we could have a no nonsense kind of person at the top. Someone we could relate to. Someone with an active interest in helping the average Brit. Prioritising the NHS, education, crime, employment. Things that actually matter to all.
Perhaps even regularly listening to the man off the street and doing something about it.... Wouldn't it be nice?
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