Is it celebrity or representation we want?

Let’s be blunt about it. The General Election campaign is well underway.  Labour has just had a very successful conference in Killarney.   Since 1997 we’ve had just 3 elections in Ireland.  In the 18 years prior to 1997 we had 6 general elections.  Elections are the best opportunity to connect with the electorate on a large scale.  If there is a disconnect in society between the citizen and representatives, it’s because there have been less elections and politicians are getting on with the business that they are being paid for, which is politics.

General Elections now almost are on a fixed term. This may be politically convenient however I don’t think it is good for the electorate.  Issues which are resolved move off the agenda with increasing speed.  It doesn’t make for feedback.    And in the middle of all this we have the phenomena of celebrity politicians or high public profile candidates.

In Wexford the main issue in 2011 was the future of the General Hospital.  You don’t hear a word about it’s future now, that question has been resolved, principally by Labour being in office.  The long planned and long delayed improvements of the N25 and N11 are starting soon too.  Every issue moves on and with a more diverse media, it moves faster. 

Some elected representative only deals with the media and prioritise developing a profile over the needs of the electorate.   The deputies profile replaces their work rate in the mind of the electorate and becomes something that influences how someone votes.  So a public representative who is a hard constituency worker is dragged down to the level of a celebrity opponent. 

Media elevation of celebrity into achievement converts celebrity into political currency in a democracy.  Indeed can celebrity be more important to the electorate than achievement?  If it doesn't matter what way a deputy dresses, then why should the media refer to it?

Could it mean that the next election will be a fundamentally different election to anything we’ve ever had before.  The issues debated may not be the issues that voters decide on.  Many of the TD’s that might be elected may have to deal with issues for which the general public have no idea where these new deputies stand.   So as Lucinda Creighton sets out to reboot Ireland with her pop up party driven of celebrity money men, how can this make politics better for all than the some of the celebrities who were elected in 2011?  

All politics is local, so when a national poll is extrapolated back to a constituency the national trends aren’t reflected.  A diverse political landscape in a small country means that individuals that can top the poll in one part of the country, would lose a deposit elsewhere.   The make up of the next government will reflect the will of the people on election day but will politics develop in the way that people expect?  And at what stage do you need an upgrade to version 2.0 rather than simply reboot?