Where are all the talented politicians?

It must be a sign of getting old, but increasingly I am drawn to the politicians of yesteryear, wondering what happened to the statesmen we had back then.

Watching Dominic Sandbrook’s recent TV series on the 1980s, a picture flashed up of the first Thatcher Cabinet. That’s when it first came to me. They had their faults, of course they did, and there was only one woman in the shot, but this white, stale, male line-up was head and shoulders above today’s crew.

Constantly, the same thought recurs. This week, listening to Angela Rayner’s appallingly robotic performance on Radio 4’s Today programme when quizzed about Labour’s social care policy, I had to swallow hard: yes, this person who repeats “hard working families” over and over, without once answering the question as to what Labour would do, despite Martha Kearney’s valiant attempts to extract anything meaningful, really is the party’s Deputy Leader.

Similarly, Priti Patel is Home Secretary. Priti Patel! But then we have a man who likes to consume a Pret a Manger Chicken and Bacon Caesar baguette every day for lunch, as Foreign Secretary. They hold the third and fourth great offices of state, Dominic Raab and Patel. And Gavin Williamson runs the country’s schools and Robert Jenrick oversees housing.

For how much longer remains to be seen, but if they were to depart their replacements are unlikely to be much better. There is a gaping lack of quality, of intellect and ability, at the top of our political parties. All of them.

We can expect to hear a lot more from the makeweights who now pass for senior figures, for their party’s stars, in the weeks ahead. Conference season is about to start and with it the annual choreographed display of non-funny jokes, fake laughter and staged applause. It’s pathetic and demeaning.

What we won’t get is anything well-argued, well-explained. Sense and logic will be notably absent. Nothing of significance will be proffered; no searing, uplifting, achievable vision will be shared. Instead, we will be treated to the same tedious simplistic litany of stock phrases and meaningless twaddle.

This, don’t forget, is when they are trying to showcase their talent, wishing to impress upon the faithful and public why they are qualified to govern. What they are like in private, away from the cameras and microphones, does not bear thinking about.

It’s not just me. At parties and dinner parties, now they’re back, others volunteer and share the identical opinion: what has happened to our political class, where are the people of real stature?

This is often said in jest; we like to poke fun at them. But it’s beyond a laughing matter. These are office holders who manage our country, our economy, who determine its future direction, our collective wellbeing, and can take us into war and settle peace. We trust them with our lives.

Not many of the present Tory bunch, Boris Johnson included – with the possible exclusion of Rishi Sunak, Kwasi Kwarteng, Nadhim Zahawi and Michael Gove (although his recent behaviour gives pause) – would have a chance of making a corporate Executive Committee, let alone Group Board, of a major FTSE100. On the Labour side, Keir Starmer would be an automatic selection, but only as in-house counsel.

As for the Liberal Democrats, the Coalition Cabinet days with the sensible likes of David Laws and Vince Cable in attendance now seem like a distant memory.

Most would not even make it to a final selection round for the next tier down, yet here they are, chosen and sitting on high.

What’s to be done? On the Conservative benches we have a Prime Minister who seemingly takes delight in appointing nonentities to senior positions, to make him appear even taller. He’s obeying human nature but it would not be tolerated by company shareholders – it is not the best way to extract performance and profit. A chief executive adopting such a stratagem would not last long.

But when you examine the supposed Tory talent pool available, it is found wanting. Labour too, having gone through schism and flux, is equally desperately lacking. This is not a problem confined to blue and red – it goes right across.

Alarming, too, is the accompanying reduction in quality in our civil service. Again, it’s another common refrain, that the class of 2021 are not a patch on their predecessors, that our public service chieftain ranks are similarly weakened. Various reasons are put forward: they’re cowed and demotivated; those of spark and spunk have left, discouraged by their elected, grandstanding, self-serving bosses.

In fact, the same question applies to them as to those who might be tempted to put their name to the ballot: why would they? For not much money compared with what they could command in the private sector they will be harried and exhausted. Constantly, they face the risk that if there is a crisis they and their families will be put in the spotlight of ridicule and humiliation by an unforgiving media and social media. They will not be able to walk across a Central London park without being assailed by drunken yobs. Their earnings will be pored over, their lives will not be theirs. No thanks, best leave it to others.

We must make a concerted attempt to halt the decline, to recruit and promote those with genuine expertise, who can also lead and manage, to the higher echelons of Westminster and Whitehall. We must weed out those who are there in the expectation of receiving an honour – there should be honour enough in serving. Likewise, those who see public office as a stepping-stone to a lucrative business career. It should be a calling, not a temporary stop over.

We want those who can think, who can analyse, dissect, reason, plan and enact. It ought not to be too much to expect. As you sit down to view the party conferences, ask yourself, who would you want on your team?