Are all politicians liars?
That’s a brilliant question. I think what annoys me (and everybody else) most about politicians is why don’t they do what they say they’re going to do. In any pub in the country, the question is asked: “Why do politicians break their promises?”
Are all politicians bad people, habitual liars, or deceitful? Or are they just good old-fashioned bullshitters?
I have been coaching politicians and working in and around Westminster for over twenty years and have met and know quite a few politicians. Sorry to disappoint you: I don’t believe most politicians in the two major parties lie on purpose. I think they mainly speak with the best intentions. I believe that they mean what they say when they say it … but then things go wrong. They want to deliver what they promise. But they fail to deliver for one or more of the following four reasons (not always their fault) and that is what makes the public, including me, disappointed; the lack of delivery, the lack of ability to deliver on promises; the breaking of promises.
We like people to say what they mean and to speak from the heart and be real, but it’s more than that. We also want them to do what they say. To keep promises.
Some people vote tribally, but some people actually read party manifestos and make “informed decisions” based on what the party puts out in their manifesto. Politicians also (annoyingly) love to use the word pledge instead of promise.
But… the definition of a pledge is:
pledge: noun “a solemn promise or undertaking.”
…so I don’t know why they don’t just say, “I promise”. Maybe they know they will look bad on video when they don’t deliver. What is worse? What sounds worse? When a politician “doesn’t deliver on a pledge” or when they “break a promise”? Or a commitment?
In this video, Keir Starmer promises one thing but then “moves on from that commitment.”
https://youtube.com/shorts/U35O4SGW4cc?feature=share
If you get as annoyed as I do by politicians not keeping their promises… imagine if you had campaigned for them or financed their campaign. Then it would be even more personal.
Here are some of the reasons politicians don’t deliver on their promises. This is kinda like a perverse politician’s excuses list. You can decide which are valid excuses and which are not.
Politicians not delivering on their promises – reason 1. Reality Check.
Politicians in opposition or in campaign mode will promise anything to get into power. That’s not quite true. But…
The ones who have a realistic chance of getting into power and the ones who have been in power are likely to be more realistic and to have fully-costed, “sensible”, and realistic(-ish) manifestos.
manifesto: noun a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate.
But no politician wants to lose because the other party promised more because the other party can just shrug their victorious shoulders and get on with being in power. There is no punishment for lies in politics. Sadly.
Elections often descend into an auction of undeliverable or unrealistic promises, and it’s very tempting for politicians to play the auction of bullshit. Some know they are talking bullshit and see it as a means to an end; some of them don’t and suffer the electoral consequences; some don’t care that they are talking bullshit because they know that they will never be in power, so it doesn’t matter what they say because they will never be held to account.
Is it the voter’s fault? Perhaps it’s the media’s fault? Maybe voters should be more realistic in their expectations and not believe what politicians promise them. Maybe the media should scrutinise more forensically.
If someone promised me champagne and a breakfast prepared by Gordon Ramsay every day – it would sound lovely. But would I believe it? We all love the sound of free stuff. But nothing is free. We are blessed to live in a democracy with free healthcare – and I am alive because of our NHS. But nothing is free. Healthcare, policing, defence, infrastructure, and social care all have to be paid for and being in government is a frustrating series of incredibly tough choices about the allocation of very finite resources amongst limitless and almost infinite demands.
Campaign in Poetry, Govern in Prose.
These tough choices and decisions about allocating finite resources with virtually infinite demands are a chore that minority parties and politicians don’t have to worry their heads about. If you’re never going to be in government and all you want is to get attention for yourselves, it doesn’t matter what you say because you will never be found out. You can always blame others for not delivering on your fantastical and unrealistic promises.
The Labour Party left an infamous note from the outgoing Chief Secretary of the Labour Party, and David Cameron made the most of it.
Liam Byrne bitterly regretted leaving the there is no money note – but this story did give us an insight into what government is all about: making difficult daily choices about infinite demand and finite choices.
The Liberal Democrats discovered in 2010, and to their cost in 2015, that governing is a lot tougher than talking about governing. They went from being seen as cuddly politicians to “typical lying politicians” who renege on promises, and they paid for it electorally. Maybe there is a God.
Politicians not delivering on their promises – reason 2. “The Blob stopped me”.
Please note the inverted commas!
Inertia is a thing. Somebody said inertia is the biggest force. Changing the status quo is the hardest thing in the world.
Talking vs Doing. Politicians are the dreamers who talk about the WHAT.
Civil servants are the experts tasked with the HOW. The delivery.
It is even tougher if you are a Minister of a Department. These massive ministerial ships are slow to change speed or direction. Most people simply don’t understand the gargantuan size of the departments and the amount of effort and focus that is needed to implement changes in legislation or in focus within a department. This is tough and slow-moving even when all the civil servants are engaged and enthusiastic about your agenda.
Some, but absolutely NOT all, civil servants resemble Sir Humphrey. Civil servants, almost without exception, are super smart, operating in their own territory, and are significantly more knowledgeable about the depth and breadth of their subject matter than their Ministers, who are usually appointed on a patronage basis – not because of subject matter expertise!
Most civil servants are also very passionate about their jobs and want to do a great job for the country. They are super familiar with how everything works and are very well placed to slow things down to a frustratingly slow pace if they desire to do so. This might be because they disagree ideologically; it might be because the proposals are just plain mad.
Civil servants can expertly do the plumber’s sharp (and predictably expensive) intake of breath and suggest that expensive consultants (partially staffed by former senior civil servants lured away by the big bucks) are brought in to confirm the business case or viability of a project – especially if it’s an expensive or high profile project. This can take years and cost taxpayers a fortune. I understand that this is what happened when Brown took over from Blair on HS2.
Politicians not delivering on their promises – reason 3. Politicians Going Native.
Sometimes politicians just go native. They kinda like the Ministerial cars and the high-octane lifestyle, and the media attention and start drinking their own Kool-Aid. They become part of the system that they so often have campaigned against. These politicians become the tamest and the least revolutionary – they want their Ministry and their civil servants on their side, and they are the easiest for civil servants to manage.
Politicians not delivering on their promises – reason 4. “The Whips made me.”
This is either cowardice, careerism, or the Whips have something on the politician.
Politicians not delivering on their promises – reason 5. Politicians are part of the system.
Yanis Varoufakis was a bit of a revolutionary. I like him. I like revolutionaries. Most of my work is as a Speaker Coach and Storytelling Coach for business leaders, but I work in politics because I believe things can be better than the status quo and that inertia really means slow decline. Yanis was the Greek Finance Minister and tells a tale of when he met Larry Summers. Larry Summers was a bit grumpy with him and told him that he and his Greek government shouldn’t have called that election in Greece.
They met in a bar in Washington, and Larry Summers said, “Yanis, there are two kinds of politicians, insiders and outsiders. The outsiders prioritize their freedom to speak their version of the truth. The price of their freedom is that they are ignored by the insiders who make the important decisions. The insiders, for their part, follow a sacrosanct rule, never turn against other insiders and never talk to outsiders about what insiders say or do. Their reward, access to inside information and a chance, though no guarantee, of influencing powerful people in outcomes.”
With that, Summers arrived at his question, “So Yanis,” he said, “which of the two are you?”
That’s what really annoys me: people who pretend to be outsiders in order to get selected or elected, but they’re really insiders. I’d rather, if you were an insider, be true to yourself. Say that you’re an insider, you’re part of the establishment, but don’t try and con us because we can smell it. If not immediately, soon.
Read more about how I help aspiring politicians become MPs here https://peterbotting.co.uk/getting-selected-mp/