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Irrespective of which side they are from. Tony Benn, Dennis Skinner are two for me, used to think Vince Cable was ok but have changed my mind. I like Paddy pants down for his work in Bosnia and Chris Patten for his work in Hong Kong.
Of the current crop no one raises their head above the gutter, this question was prompted by listening to some no mark this morning saying what a great thing it was to have capped the increase in train fares. Seemed to ignore the question that similar season tickets in germany are way cheaper.
For the most part they are scum.
It's also hard to respect people who vote for the worst of them knowing how corrupt, arrogant and self serving they are.
An example of this is local MP and expenses fiddler Hazel Blears. What a poisonous undersized witch.
Are there any politicians you actually respect
Who?
🙄
Under the politics and religion section, my Facebook page states
Lying thieving cheating scumbags the lot of them, apart from Buddhists.
I wrote that about 8 years ago and think its truer today than when I wrote it.
chris patton seemed fine when he was half a world a way, his stint at the bbc showed that his best days are definitely behind him!
its hard to look past the web of PR and spin and party BS they are surrounded in to see most of them as anything other than first class ****
If it's any consolation the Spanish ones are just as bad, or even worse.
kimbers - Memberim not sure coolhandluke
buddhists not always nice
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22356306
Is it because they stand their ground?
😈
George Osborne
Gary Kasparov
Putin ... he takes his shirt off.
Sadly the days of conviction politicians such as Benn, Skinner, Thatcher , Foot etc are long behind us, now you have a professional class of politician who basically has no real outside experience of life but that of that in the gravy train, from university politics straight into a job working for a politician or party and then through promotion up to an MP.
If your mates cant get you into a safe seat as an MP, don't worry, there's always opportunities in Brussels, the local council or Quango.
I blame the electorate, someone has to vote for them, its not a complete charade!
I don't vote labour, but for the best parliamentarian is Dennis Skinner who has stuck to his socialist beliefs. He was on the radio a number of years ago where he said if someone came to him with a problem he would try and help them, irrespective of their political persuasion
Tony Benn
Became a better politician in his later years, commenting from the backbenches rather than being part of the inner circle. To be honest most of the more honest politicians are not part of the inner circle, the power there seems to corrupt, and the party whip system is too strong.
[s]Keith Vaz [/s]
(Oops sorry, I misread the title) 😉
Yes
Francis Urquhart?
I respected Benn a lot, but unfortunately that has been somewhat undermined by the nepotism - In many ways its understandable, everyone wants to see the best for their kids and grandkids, but given everything he's said over the years, I think its done his legacy a great disservice.
Ken Livingstone really shone through for his conviction, but again the foreman job led to greedy tax dodging.
I have to bear a grudging respect for Mandelson, as a truly great political survivor, and Blair for so many reasons, despite still thinking he's a lying c**t responsible for so many bad things.
Hague, the bolt was shot too early - I think he could have been a great leader, I believe both sides see him as a true parliamentarian.
Most of all, I think that for his background and vision, Neil Kinnock - hampered by a truly broken party, possibly one of the best prime ministers we never had.
Chris Mullin
MP for Sunderland South
Margaret Hodge seems to be almost alone in appearing to actually be on our side, rather than doing the bidding of corporate paymasters.
It's been refreshing to see her tearing into a corporate 'elite' who've grown accustomed to doing whatever they please, without being called to account by anyone
Why are these people selected to represent their parties if they're so bad?
I do think mostly politicians want to do the right thing in their role - some of them just get a bit carried away with milking the system.
George Galloway
Oh gawd...I kinda agree with Zulu. 😡
Especially wrt Kinnock.
Why are these people selected to represent their parties if they're so bad?
Because that's what the modern parties want, centralised power, and an obedient parliamentary membership.
Alex Salmond. Surely our greatest living politician and a man driven by a passion for his people and his country.
I am not sure too many social workers in Islington would agree with your choice Binners. But at least dear Margaret does a great job at highlighting that it's not just Tory RWers who now how to minimise their corporate tax affairs. I admire a politician who can bring balance to the debate and such a broad perspective.
With Kinnoch, our great loss was Europe's gain. A noble sacrifice from the citizens of the UK.
Darcy:
Even I'd bloody vote for him after that 😀
I am sure there are many decent politicians, they just don't have a high national public profile . The well known corrupt and incapable spongers have done us all wrong but to tar all politicians with the same brush won't help. The need is to change the system without throwing out the good politicians along with those who are corrupt and or incompetent .
Malcolm Ri****d was someone I fundamentally disagreed with on almost every issue but found him reasonable honest and principled.
no none
Don't know why the Welsh Windbag has such a high reputation for telling the Labour Pains the blindingly obvious, losing an election by acting like a prat at the Sheffield conference, accepting a Lordship after opposing the system for years and ending up in a feather-bedded sinecure courtesy of Brussels.
Pah.
I always thought John Major was alright - and appeared to be doing it for mostly the right reasons...
Not since John Smith died.
Angela Merkel?
Angela Merkel is just as beholden to the German press as any UK politician is to fleet street.
Woppit you didnt mention that the Welsh windbag was also ginger, surely that must come into your condemnation of the man.
Not perfect, but I think [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau ]Pierre Trudeau[/url] was remarkable by any standards, while one of his successors, [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Chr%C3%A9tien ]Jean Chretien[/url] was also pretty good.
Although Canadian, and therefore below most people's radar, both men are worth a look-in.
george galloway
Got to give Tom Watson his due:
George Galloway has already been mentioned, but it's worth expanding on:
[url= http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/22595538/the-killing-of-tony-blair ]Killing of Tony Blair[/url]
Loads and loads of politicians out there working very hard and doing a great job for their constituents. Problem is that their work rarely gets reported. It's the bad ones that get the media attention.
Our system isn't perfect, and not all politicians are little angels, but compared to many other countries we are very lucky.
Why not go speak to your local MP, find out what he does and what a typical day is like. I suspect many of you will be surprised.
Heseltine had some principles to be fair over westland and iirc in his business life as well
Dave call me dave Davies when he stood down - again bit pointless but he did actually have principles and a line in the sand
John Smith -look what came after him
Wee eck - has [ nearly] achieved his dream and has popularity the likes of which MP's can but dream
Its a fairly short list tbh and I have tried to answer the question rather than just mock the politicians I oppose....i shall leave that to the right whingers who are doing a splendid job of showing us all how witty,charming and humouress they are.
George Galloway
Of the current crop no one raises their head above the gutter, this question was prompted by listening to some no mark this morning saying what a great thing it was to have capped the increase in train fares. Seemed to ignore the question that similar season tickets in germany are way cheaper.
I think a lot of blame should lie with the media. I heard an R4 interview along those lines (possibly the same one) and it was clear that the politician's primary concern was avoiding the soundbite bait that the interviewer was feeding him, making any sort of insightful or useful discussion impossible.
As you say, the real question here is not why are the fares going up, but how are we managing to run our railways so inefficiently compared to other countries. I remember seeing some figures on this a few years ago, and it's not (just) private companies profiting: we really do spend bafflingly more than other countries running our railways. Unfortunately, the reasons for that seem to be quite complicated and any useful level of investigation is far beyond the capabilities of our hysterical soundbite media. Why waste the energy when you can just do a VoxPop of commuters moaning about their fares, then ask an MP some stupid questions?
For another recent example, see the treatment of the proposed MP remuneration changes. The media was so desperate to kick up a storm over the headline pay rise figure, that the other details of the package were barely reported at all, making it impossible for anyone to reach an informed view about whether or not it was a good deal for tax payers. All it did was further fuel distrust and dislike of politicians, making them even more defensive and less effective.
The one MP that I know personally is someone that I have a huge amount of respect for, and who left a successful career elsewhere because he felt sufficiently motivated to actually try to fix some of the things that are wrong with this country. He may be an exception, but I'm sure that he's not unique.
President of Uruguay!
Surprised Galloway is on people's lists after his big brother debacle. He has at least been consistent, but I can't respect him.
It would have been good to see what John Smith might have achieved. I agree William Hague was too young when he became leader and the media destroyed him. Paddy Ashdown I have time for, but he had a life before politics which so many don't.
The one who seems consistently true to his beliefs is Dennis Skinner. Having been at the wrong end of one of his letters on behalf of a constituent, I wish he was my MP
George Galloway is lost on me - self serving sh*tbag as far as i'm concerned.
John Smith was a good call though...
Have to add to my earlier comments - Tebbit, for the way he has conducted himself and the loyalty and dedication he has shown to his wife after the tragic injuries she suffered from the Brighton bombing
Worth reading his recent blog post to see what some of those Tory nutters think about the NHS:
kennyp - Member
Loads and loads of politicians out there working very hard and doing a great job for their constituents. Problem is that their work rarely gets reported. It's the bad ones that get the media attention.
Very true. Hence the odd reaction to whole pay rise thing. PDW, spot on - the media obsession and ridiculous scrutiny of every word makes politics rather sad these days.
MSP - MemberTony Benn
Became a better politician in his later years, commenting from the backbenches rather than being part of the inner circle.
He almost destroyed the Labour Party in the 1970's & early 80's.
If Healey had been elected insead of Foot, would the Tories have remained in power for so long, if at all?
So no, not for me.
John Smith is the last one I felt was on our side rather than his.
Liked Mo Mowlem.
I like Charles Kennedy too.
1970's Labour is the reason why I gained a taste for liver. For that reason all Labour politicians of that era are ****ing ****s.
I've seen Andy Burnham at Goodison a couple of times. Re-spect.
Eric Joyce - when you're just not quite getting your point across in the chamber, have an alehouse brawl in the Commons bar. Twice.
I'd tend to agree with the above that the majority of MPs work their balloches off, but are let down by a (sizable) minority.
Does Galloway still count as an MP? He never ever bothers to turn up to parliament, unless he's got an opportunity to get on telly with his usual bombast. Surely he's just a media commentator. I certainly wouldn't want the self-serving **** representing me.
There was an interesting article by everyones favourite - Polly Toynbee (emailed in from Tuscany, no doubt) - on our elected representatives, and our relationship with them. Raises some interesting points
[url= http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/30/share-blame-for-useless-politicians ]We must all share the blame for our 'useless' politicians[/url]
Oh… and another vote for Andy Burnham. I knew him pretty well, pre-political career. He's a genuine bloke. And, amazingly for a politician, is prepared to admit his own failings, and his part in the wider distrust of politics. He'd be a damn site better opposition leader than the muppet presently in situ
The one MP that I know personally is someone that I have a huge amount of respect for, and who left a successful career elsewhere
I immediately dismiss any career politicians. A good start to political reform would be to mandate a decent amount of outside world experience - widen the Westminster gene pool a bit.
I find a lot of politicians seem better after they have left the limelight - Heseltine, Major, Benn, Hague to an extent. Which does make you wonder if a minimum age/real world experience requirement would be a good idea....
I thought that part of the reason for mps etc being paid a competitive salary was to prevent parliament becoming a sort of club for bankers and lawyers who had made their money elsewhere and were looking to go into semi retirement.
I'll admit that has failed but a minimum age limit just seems to further narrow the gene pool, and there's still precious few working class mps nevermind women mps or ethnic minority mps.
In my lifetime;
Michael Heseltine
Neil Kinnock
Berlusconi?
At least he was clear in being as dishonest as a politician can be.
Historically, I must say Geoffrey Dickens sounds like a good bloke:
a heavyweight boxer who saved 2 boys and a man from drowning, who then went on to compile a dossier of evidence proving the existence of a high profile paedophile ring... despite Tom Watson repeatedly requesting this dossier (which should be in the archives) from Theresa May, it has yet to surface...
On that note, and politicians I don't respect;
[img] 
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Have you heard the rumours surrounding Leon Brittan?
[url= http://spotlightonabuse.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/leon-brittan-and-the-leeds-child-abuse-dossier/ ]Very interesting!![/url]
Obama
&
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None of the Brits. Not one.
Apart from Estelle Morris and Lord Carrington how many MPs have resigned as a matter of principle/taking responsibility for any failing? I am not including "forced to resign".
Heseltine, Howe.
Very few in senior politics. Trouble is, the ones who stick by their ideals tend to be fanatics, fundamentalism is always the strongest form of belief but it gives you nutters like Thatcher, Blair etc. Being your own person isn't necessarily a good thing! Course, too many of have learned the lesson of believing in only what will help you win, today, and have gone to the other extreme.
I don't know if I quite respect Alex Salmond, he is pretty odious in a lot of ways. But I certainly admire his commitment and his prowess. I thought his championing of votes for 16 year olds was eyeopening.
Wonder where we'd be now if John Smith had lived and Tony Blair had died...
Would you count both as "matters of principle"?
Howe "possibly" more that Tarzan?
Mandy - both times?
Sometimes it is OTT ok its their watch but were the blame?
Carrington voted against it [ the ship removal] for example - he did it on principle but he was not to blame- I think it showed how foolish it was to just resign in some circusmtances
I accept we have swung too far the other way though.
To answer your question NO but I am not sure whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.
We need more honour but not pointless sword falling
NW, hence the phrase, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely!!!!
Northwind - Member
I thought his championing of votes for 16 year olds was....
...tactically opportunistic?!? 😉
[quote=Junkyard said]Mandy - both times?
Pushed first time ? And possibly second time too ?
teamhurtmore - Member...tactically opportunistic?!?
Exactly the opposite- every poll shows they'll vote No, but he's championed their right to do so.
Margaret Thatcher, for saving us.
Is that right? Interesting, Last poll I saw only showed under 24s (irritatingly) who were in the yes camp. Where did you get that from NW?
Could it be the polls themselves are propaganda to alter public perception, because the Banksters in London are bricking it at losing Oil, Whiskey, Tourism and Character?
I'm thinking Yes
THM, here are a few for you.
The coverage of this issue was predictably onesided tbh but you can draw your own conclusions from the presentation- lots of articles and No campaigners telling us the SNP wanted the 16-17 year old vote because they would vote Yes, but no evidence or polling ever presented, just a mysterious absence of numbers...
Thanks for that NW. I take it back about wee eck then - at least in this respect!!!!
binners - Member
Does Galloway still count as an MP? He never ever bothers to turn up to parliament, unless he's got an opportunity to get on telly with his usual bombast. Surely he's just a media commentator. I certainly wouldn't want the self-serving **** representing me.
The more time on telly he gets, the better as far as I am concerned. He raises a lot of issues etc. that never seem to be heard on mainstream media. He's got some balls too, and in my opinion very well educated on the subjects /topics he believes in.
I find a lot of politicians seem better after they have left the limelight
This. They seem to give better/ more interesting interviews at least.
Tom Watson keeps on fighting the good fight:
and he has the documents to back it up:
[url= http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2014/01/a-conspiracy-too-far-read-the-documents-and-make-up-your-own-mind ]http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2014/01/a-conspiracy-too-far-read-the-documents-and-make-up-your-own-mind[/url]
and a bit more background:
[url= http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/14/david-cameron-inquiry-british-role-amritsar-attack-sas ]http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/14/david-cameron-inquiry-british-role-amritsar-attack-sas[/url]
Of the current crop in the UK:
Caroline Lucas, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Tom Watson, Patrick Harvie & Leanne Wood are pretty good generally with Katy Clark & Stella Creasy generally ok, but a bit wobbly on some things.
Outside of that, José Mujica (the President of Uraguay) Evo Morales (Bolivian President), Nándor Tánczos (New Zealand Green Politician) amongst others.
Of the politicians I've worked with Alan Milburn and Alan Johnson were the best.
Are we only talking MPs and those of similar standing, or do County Councillors count? I'd like to nominate my County (and District) Councillor, Tom Wells.
I don't think I'll ever vote Tory but I respect Zac Goldsmith and Tim Yeo for championing green issues and keeping the Tories true to their roots (i.e. conservative conservation)
Dennis Canavan