Politics 091108

Every so often a politician makes a speech which merits further and deeper reflection. This week, the Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, speaking to the Hansard Society, observed: “There is a trend towards politics being seen as a career move rather than a call to public service.” She called for more MP’s from different backgrounds representing wider experiences than just politics. It is certainly true that politicians, previously a pick and mix of industrialists, philanthropists, bankers, and lawyers, emerge more and more from only one career strand: politics. The Minister fears that a lack of breadth and depth, of real life experience for future politicians could be an intrinsic factor in the culture of cynicism and pessimism which is often associated with contemporary British political life. Their decisions as members of Parliament, she said, should reflect the realities people face. I speak here with some experience myself, though in another area of public service – that of ordained ministry. If I had my time over again, perhaps I might not have taken a fast track to be an ordained priest of the Church of England at the youngest possible age of 24. Since then I have witnessed the enormous wisdom of some of my fellow priests who came much later into full time ministry after careers in other disciplines including the police force, banking, education and yes, paradoxically, even politics. That’s not, of course, to doubt what I discerned as a clear vocation: it is more a question of timing and experience to ensure the mix is right. The link between vocation and public service needs to be re-examined as a consequence of contemporary subtle changes affecting career structures and an increasing number of highly specialised jobs with a clearly non vocational label. This involves a partnership with our universities and colleges which are increasingly offering very focused, some might say, narrow, career focused degree course which don’t always provide basic skills and understanding about everyday life. Drawing our attention to the truly vocational nature of some careers will hopefully attract a wider diversity of people to posts which are clearly aimed at helping the whole of society – politics is just one; what about nursing, teaching, and of course, and I would include, the priesthood also. The Communities Secretary deserves praise for raising an important issue about politics as a vocation – rather than a way purely to success and career progression.
Leo Tolstoy is clear where the emphasis lies in the simple difference between a job or a career and a vocation because the latter is about the whole human experience and our encounter with our neighbor: “The vocation of every man and every woman is to serve other people.”