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A question of trust

 

Shane Greer

 

In 1946 the American statesman Henry Stimson famously stated in an article entitled The Bomb and the Opportunity that: "The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him and show your distrust." A noble sentiment indeed, but is it one that lends itself well to the political process? Certainly when an individual puts themselves up for election they are asking voters to trust them. Indeed, they are asking voters to trust them in the most fundamental of ways; to take decisions on their behalf. But when it comes to political appointments it has become all too clear recently that trust is a virtue perhaps best discarded in favour of scepticism.
The Ray Lewis debacle exploded on to our screens and sent City Hall flying backwards under a hail of media fire. At first came shock about the revelations themselves, but shortly thereafter came the more fundamental aspect of the Lewis experience; how could this happen, how could his past have escaped the attention of team Boris? Simple: they never checked. As Nick Boles, Boris's acting chief of staff, stated on 23 July: "We all knew Ray and believed in him. It didn't occur to us to doubt any of this stuff." That stuff included Lewis's claim to being a JP, a position he has never in fact held.
The lesson is plain to see. In politics trust no one, particularly when you're thinking of associating them with your campaign or, in Boris's case, your mayoralty.
Political campaigning is sadly a dirty game, but it's a game that anyone who seeks public office must play. Your record and, crucially, the record of those associated with your campaign is something quite rightly in the firing line, and if you don't take the time to do some research on the histories of those around you, you might very quickly find yourself in damage limitation mode.

Shane Greer is Executive Editor of Total Politics