Time runs out for rulers keeping power from the people

Written by Diana Wallis in the Yorkshire Post and published in 18 September 2006 on Mon 18th Sep 2006

FOR politicians, it is that time of the year when we pack our bags and head for the party conference at the seaside. This week the Liberal Democrats are in Brighton which, perhaps surprisingly, will be an important few days for the party. I say surprisingly because we are probably 30 months away from a General Election (unless Gordon Brown decides to have a snap election next year which I do not rule out).

But the Liberal Democrats face an interesting future, given that the Conservatives have found a leader that people seem to find less unappealing than those they have had in the past, and the Labour Party will soon lose their apparent electoral liability in Tony Blair.

Political commentators have already suggested the Liberal Democrats are bound to be squeezed in such circumstances. In that wider political context the party is also looking to define more broadly its policy terms, not least on tax, which means that much of the week in Brighton will be spent reflecting on the future direction of the party. Added to all of this, it is, of course, Ming Campbell's first conference as leader, with much scrutiny likely of his performance.

So interesting it will be, but I also sense that the party has a great opportunity to actually think and do things less like a traditional political party. I have many criticisms of Tony Blair and David Cameron, but my main problem with them is that they are out of the same mould as political operators.

For them politics is more about style than substance, about public relations stunts rather than policy. Sometimes the Liberal Democrats fall into this trap too. We occasionally think that more professionalism means matching the other parties with more spin and photo opportunities. In fact, I think more professionalism means facing up to some pretty awkward questions which face all of us involved in the political process in this country..

The problems we face were persuasively analysed by the independent Power Commission inquiry which reported earlier in the year. The problems with politics in the UK are well documented by them and by others.

The main theme is how the connection between elected representatives and the electorate can be re-established in times of increasingly lower turnouts and elector disaffection. As a Liberal Democrat, there are trusted mantras such as electoral reform, a more diverse House of Commons and so on. But I believe we need to go further.

A couple of years ago, I was asked by the BBC if I wanted to appear on a new show that they were putting together. The premise was that if I had an interesting hobby, such as juggling or mind-reading, I could share it with them and then I could talk about politics for a couple of minutes.

Naturally I refused. I still hold the perhaps vain belief that politics is not about celebrity, although that is not to say that celebrities cannot be brought into the political arena. In Brighton I am meeting Saira Khan, the runner-up from The Apprentice.

Since her appearance on last year's series, she has become something of a commentator on a variety of issues, not least on democracy. She is now fronting up an organisation called Our Say which is campaigning for local and national referendums based on citizen's initiatives.

This is an issue close to my own heart. I am convinced that we need more participation from people in our political decision-making through a greater use of referendums.

These should not be merely offered from the top down at the whim of Prime Ministers (we have seen from Tony Blair that referendums can be taken away just as easily as they can be promised), but also bottom-up so that people in their local communities, across the country or indeed across the EU, could raise a petition which in turn would formally instigate a referendum process.

The Swiss and many US states have employed this process of people's initiatives successfully for many years. With the help of people like Saira Khan, it is an idea whose time has come.

On its own, this greater use of referendums and people's initiatives is not enough. But, in conjunction with other aspects of reform of the political process, I believe it could work to make a reconnection with people. At the moment, for all political parties, it seems to me that politics is doing the same old things but better than the other side. It won't work; time is running out for this approach.

Things have to change. If it takes "celebrities" to make the case, then so be it, but politicians have to be brave enough to change the culture that is based on the principle that they alone know best; they have to truly share political power and decision making with those they seek to represent and soon.

Diana Wallis is the Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber.