London 2012 Olympics

99.9% of politicians are in it for their own self gratification and self promotion, power and greed are the main driving forces
there are a few who might be in it for the good of the people but they are well and truly in the minority, well and truly

as gore vidal said ......

Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.

replace president with politician and he's got it i think

replace "politician" with "office" and it will at least make sense

oops sorry but you get my drift

They're conniving bastards though.

If they knew that was the thing they'd be judged by, they'd all proclaim it's the last thing they'd want and they'd only do it begrudgingly.

Red Ken only cares about one thing and that is number ONE!!!
He couldn't give a fuck about anyone else...
It is so clear... must be blind as a bat not to see that!
Fobbing everyone prior to the Mayor of London elections that he can reduce the
cost of public transport drastically... very desperate attempt to get votes...
Complete liar... increases to convienently follow after the elections should
he have won! Hypocrit!

Red Ken sincere.... my arse!!!

Was he fuck.
He was a lying self-serving, divisive, corrupt, manipulative shitbag who, when not making sure his mates were receiving public money to line their own pockets, would align himself with any person, party or campaign to further his own agenda, no matter how odious, or criminal, or indeed at odds with the wishes of his own party. He wanted power for power's sake and didn't care who he stepped on to get it.

You hate Boris Johnson? Well the only reason he won two elections was because Ken Livingstone was the alternative.

If Labour put up a credible candidate for mayor next time they will wipe the fucking floor with Boris and his political career will be well and truly over.

It really is so clear isn't it and I'm sure that your research has been meticulous, considered, unbiased and completely uninfluenced by any of the tabloid misinformation and fuckwittery that may have dribbled into your consciousness.
Number ONE! YEAH! BASTARD!
BLIND BATS!
Er, Wibble

you seem to know better than everyone else! Of course you are right! How dare anyone speak badly about red ken! LOL!!!!!

It really is so clear isn't it and I'm sure that your research has been meticulous, considered, unbiased and completely uninfluenced by any of the tabloid misinformation and fuckwittery that may have dribbled into your consciousness.
Number ONE! YEAH! BASTARD!
BLIND BATS!
Er, Wibble

berlusconi
blair
bush

all absolutely in it for themselves
helping out their millionaire friends
passing laws to help themselves / those closest to them
all surnames beginning with B

convinced yet ?

Fear not, X Factor starts again soon so the nation will return to caring deeply about bullshit of no consequence.
Big Brother has been on for the past month or two - Just sayin'.

Actually - how utterly sad is that? Being on Big Brother during the olympics.

Alone in a house with a bunch of like minded shallow publicity seeking empty vessels, with nobody watching, and no TV.

99.9% of politicians are in it for their own self gratification and self promotion, power and greed are the main driving forces
there are a few who might be in it for the good of the people but they are well and truly in the minority, well and truly

as gore vidal said ......

This attitude doesn't really help things. A lot of our politicians are flawed and it does attract narcissists but a lot of them do care about our country in all sorts of ways and some work bloody hard to make things better. As the olympics showed we aren;t a complete basket case of a country yet.

You get paid bloody well for not doing much work as an MP. I think across the country, people get into politics for the money rather than the ego.

But then, the ones who do work get paid poorly for the actual time and effort that they put in.

So either way you can't seem to win.

There are lots of decent and dedicated politicians, whether local, national, or European. Many people who want to dismiss them all under negative stereotypes just want to make it easy on themselves and justify apathy and passivity.

+1 JimboJones

I really hate all the smug lazy cynicism on show here. I expect even politicians who are in it for their own self gratification are ALSO doing it because they believe they can do some good. It's far more interesting and useful to ask whether they're succeeding in doing good than to turn your back because they're all just arseholes by definition.

You get paid bloody well for not doing much work as an MP. I think across the country, people get into politics for the money rather than the ego.

plenty of people took a pay cut on becoming an MP. A lot will quit in 2015 because a) they can earn more in the private sector b) the grief that they get for being an MP (as in people think they are a c*nt as soon as they meet them)

MPs shouldn't be paid, nor be allowed to own land. The Greeks got it right the first time (so I hear).

^ Directed at me? If so, then yeah, fuck you. the fact that your comment is so clueless makes you a prick.

If not, as you were.

Calm down mate

Velocio for Mayor!!

Boris was the lesser of 2 cunts, as is often the case with elections voting is more a case of who you don't want than who you do.

IMO London is a city where the Mayoral election is usually a vote for the person over the party - I don't think people vote as strictly along party lines as the would in a general election.

MPs shouldn't be paid, nor be allowed to own land. The Greeks got it right the first time (so I hear).

Hah.

I just went and looked up the criteria for standing as a MP. I'd consider it, but I think it would be too draining and that I'd make no real difference. I also fear there would be a lot of pomp to the role, and that my lack of tact would offend everyone.

Oh well.

I'd also have to stand as an independent. No party fits my criteria.

I want to see transparency and accessibility. I want politics to not be 30 seconds every 5 years by putting a cross in the box, but to be an active and engaging thing in which a ward could constantly affect how the representative of that ward voted.

Basically I want to see representative politics front and foremost, and no party politics. I want to be able to have a system in which (if I were the MP) I could pose a question before a debate, have a mini debate locally, and then take those views and voting preference and just go do that in parliament.

In which case you don't need to elect me... just elect anyone who will give you that.

I want politics to engage people.

What the Greeks got right was an open forum in which the citizens themselves would vote freely.

I'm a strong believer in people. I guess it's why I run a forum and not a blog.

The Biggest problem IMO with modern day politicians is that most of them are former SPAD's and have no real world experience - none of the major party leaders have ever had a job outside of politics.

Mr Kitchen for Mayor!

After meeting Boris in person... I certainly wouldn't argue that he's a cunt... as well as his counterpart Ken... Don't care for any of them at all...

Velocio for Mayor!!

Boris was the lesser of 2 cunts, as is often the case with elections voting is more a case of who you don't want than who you do.

IMO London is a city where the Mayoral election is usually a vote for the person over the party - I don't think people vote as strictly along party lines as the would in a general election.

There are lots of decent and dedicated politicians, whether local, national, or European. Many people who want to dismiss them all under negative stereotypes just want to make it easy on themselves and justify apathy and passivity.

This