I’ve had a couple of people query the statistics listed in the Appendix to my e-book Things Can Only Get Bitter.
The point I’m trying to make in the book is that there’s a missing political generation, that startlingly few people born between 1955 and 1964 ever reached the highest ranks in political life. And that this is particularly surprising since it was such a numerous generation, the largest in British history.
But there’s a suggestion that by focusing only on the four big offices of state, I may be distorting the data.
So I’ve tried to make up a list of every cabinet minister since the 1945 election. This may be slightly inaccurate, since some cabinet posts come and go or get merged with other departments. But I’m sure that this is broadly right – certainly I’ve not deliberately cheated.
And this is the statistical breakdown for cabinet ministers, grouped by the decade in which they were born:
1905-14:- 43
1915-24:- 35
1935-34:- 38
1935-44:- 31
1945-54:- 46
1955-64:- 15
1965-74:- 20
I think that supports my argument. There is always going to be some fluctuation, but those of us born in 1955-64 have produced fewer than half the number of cabinet ministers recorded in any previous generation. And we've already been overtaken by the next tranche – the Cameron-Clegg-Miliband generation.
In other words, the phenomenon is as notable as when the four big offices of state are considered.
The point stands: I spent a couple of decades in a country run by politicians older than I was, and then suddenly they were younger than me. At no point did my generation enjoy any pre-eminence.
Which is not intended as a complaint or a whinge. Just an observation.
And Things Can Only Get Bitter is an attempt to explore and explain the curious incident of the dog in the night-time: what happened to the generation that didn’t bark?
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2 comments:
what a cracking start the week discussion- thanks. Your lost generation thesis equally applies to England footy managers; look at the age of those pontificating from the sofas. Is this a universal phenomena that includes business, the law, science etc? A rich vein for you!
I think there's also the lure of the media to be seen here. It seems to me that an obvious candidate as England manager for, say, the 2028 World Cup is Gary Neville. Leaving aside any club allegiances, he's clearly managerial material and just needs the experience, working his way up through the leagues in a Martin O'Neill kind of way.
But why would he bother, given how much he can get paid for a few nights' work a year with no responsibilities or stress?
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