There are seldom bouquets to be received in politics where, to paraphrase a famous quote, most careers end in failure and occasionally worse. Yet whilst there are few who excel and possibly even less who inspire, the role of the elected representative is arguably as much as calling as a career.
The people who do the job and those who aspire to the responsibility of elected office soon find that rewards are vastly outnumbered by rebukes and that you can be pressurised by conflicting constituencies of interest which often pull you in a very different direction to your original aim. To your constituents, you are a free resource; to your party, you are expendable and to your family, who flinch on your behalf over personal attacks, you soon become an empty chair at the dining table.
Of course, no-one forces them to do it and the motivation involved for most is seldom altruistic. Even so, just the act of stepping up to the plate rather than jeering from the sidelines is something which deserves recognition if not respect.
What a pity that the Western Mail website chooses to mark this aspect of democratic representation with a mealy-mouthed arbitrary “assessment” of out-going Assembly members.
Their spiteful piece adds very little to the sum of political understanding other than an oblique confirmation as to why the relevance of the Newspaper for Wales continues to diminish in proportion to its dwindling circulation figures.
The wisdom of chewing on the hand which feeds your meagre news appeal is something that the Western Mail and others may wish to reflect upon whilst writing up their analytical articles on celeb underwear during the forthcoming recess.
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