My career in Politics; a memoir
Regular readers of my Blog will know that although I was never a big fan of Gordon Brown, I have been less than impressed by the actions of the new coalition government. They are shrinking the size of the state for ideological reasons; and I do not philosophically have a problem with that. But they are doing so at exactly the wrong time. I believe the UK will enter another recession because of the actions of the government.
When people say that this is the best thing for the UK in the long run, I remember what Keynes said “In the Long run we are all dead”. Someone losing their job is a massive tragedy for them and their family; they will not be comforted by the idea that their lost job is in the best interests of the UK economy.
So rather than complain about what is happening I decided to contact one of the contenders for the leadership of the Opposition Labour Party; Ed Balls. Two weeks I got involved in his campaign. It has been a strange experience but an inspiring one. My advice to everyone would be to get involved in a political campaign (whichever colour or views you subscribe to). You will meet some great determined and talented people and you should get inspired.
I met Ed Balls last night for the first time although I have been working on his campaign for two weeks. I really enjoyed meeting him and in a classic case of being in the right place at the right time, I was asked if I would introduce him and chair a major speech he was delivering today in the City of London. It was strangely nerve wracking!
Get me in front of hundreds of people to talk about business strategy or investing as a business angel and I will not have a problem. I realise I know enough to not embarrass myself; but talking to a room full of journalists and TV crews (live coverage on BBC news!) about something I know little about and you can imagine my fear. So at the end of talk, I decided any involvement I have in politics will be strictly behind the scenes! Hence my political career is over!
I do have to say though that I really enjoyed the talk that Ed gave and I felt inspired. He has bravely broken away from the consensus that we need drastic cuts to public expenditure. www.labourlist.org/the-growth-deniers—ed-balls-full-speech I also found him to be very keen to listen and learn what I thought were the key ways to support start ups and entrepreneurs. I wish him well and I will continue to support him.
As for advice from this blog; stick to what you know and are good at!
