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I think nearly all politicians care about people. Politicians are well paid but there are many easier, less stressful, better paid jobs in business and banking. They join politics to change the way things are; we all have our ideas on how things should be, don't we? They just go further than debating and arguing over a pint in the pub.

As for a lust for power: well, many people that reach the top of their professions have this lust. But is it a wish for power to help change the world for the better (in their opinion) or a lust for power for power's sake?

Consider Tony Benn, renouncing his title to stay as an MP. If you like Benn you'd see his actions as an admirable sacrifice to serve his people. If you didn't like Benn you could see it as the ultimate sacrifice of a sociopath who's willing to do anything in pursuit of ultimate power.

Clegg's smile may just seem 'smug' to you because you don't like him.

Wow.

Because Brown would have stayed, we'd have had another election within months and the Tories would have scraped a majority second time round.

This is a fll on tory govt we have now,only itll be 10 times harder to get them out before 5 years because we have the lib dems propping them up. As i said in another thread all the cabinet places that affect the peoples pockets are taken by tories. All the policies that will hit hardest are tory poilicies,none of which the lib dems can do fck all about. They are useless.

"Because Brown would have stayed, we'd have had another election within months and the Tories would have scraped a majority second time round."

I will leave you with your crystal ball. However, I would be grateful if you could also tell me the winner of the 3.30 at Haydock Races in their next flat racing meeting.

Well, if you think that Labour would have reversed the trend and got back a 5-6% swing with either a completely new leader/cabinet, or a man that most of the press would view as a man clinging to power, while the country is going down the suwannee, then you're assuming just as much as me.

That's in your opinion. I'll ask you, since Dave didn't seem keen on answering:

Would you rather have a coalition government, made up mostly of Tories with a left-wing, liberal influence or would you prefer a Tory government without any left-wing influence?

Whether Nick Clegg got enough out of the Tories is a separate issue, and something I might actually agree with you on. I'm just arguing the rights and wrongs of the Lib Dems going into the coalition, given the circumstances.

max_tranmere wrote:

> Frank Field was probably the only Labour party front-bencher
> who I regarded as being genuinely there for the people and not
> out for himself. Vince Cable seems like another one. There are
> many politicans who care about the public but that is usually a
> secondary thing, the key thing for them is career advancement,
> power, and having their huge ego's massaged by having high
> office and being prominent in the country.
>
> Nick Clegg began to strike me as a power hungry, career
> orientated egomaniac in the later stages of the recent Election
> campaign aswell. There is something about that smug smile.
> Isn't it a shame the extent to how much these people are out
> for themselves? If I was in politics I would be there just for
> the country and the people, and not for myself. Very few are
> like that though. I think it was the singer Billy Bragg who
> said: "anyone who wants to go into politics should be banned
> from the job.
>
> People's thoughts please.

Not sure about Vince Cable being all that selfless... started off Labour, joined the SDP, then Lib Dems when SDP and Liberal parties merged and is now in bed with the Tories. Selfless in the pursuit of power, more like.

Probably the most selfless of all MPs (though never made it to the front bench, so maybe why you didn't mention him) is Dennis Skinner, who has never taken his full MPs salary, rather just taking what the average wage is in his constituency. He is also regularly one of the MPs with the lowest expenses claims.

Sam
"That's in your opinion. I'll ask you, since Dave didn't seem keen on answering"

The reason I didn't reply to your questions is because they are clearly either closed questions or badly phrased.

Question 1 Do you want your party to serve the people first, or serve their own party's interests first?

I could just as easily say Do you want your party to serve the interests of the people, that is the people who voted for your manifesto and principles or selfish self interest in power.

Question 2 Would you rather have a left-wing political influence within a coalition with the Tories or would you rather have a Tory government with no left-wing influence?

This presupposes that there are only the two options. There are not. First it would be a minority Tory government (without the crystal ball, please). Secondly the option you do not consider was the option preferred by SHirley WIlliams and Paddy Ashdown i.e. instead of a coalition you have a "confirm and supply" agreement.

Question 3 Put yourself in Clegg's shoes. As the leader of a party, do you think you can best serve your voters by going into partnership with the Tories, and having a real say in how the country is governed or do you think you'd best serve your voters by allowing the Tories to govern alone with you carrying on the role of being part of the opposition and mostly irrelevant?

See comments re. question 2. Misses out the option favoured seemingly by many senior Lib Dems.

Cheers
D

Don't tell me you hadn't noticed before now.