I'm advocating common sensism

No sane company elects their movers and shakers in this way; Geoff from stores doesn’t have a say in who gets the top job at Perkins and Dianne from the John Lewis make-up counter isn’t consulted about who should serve the tea in the restaurant.

Instead, semi-literate people, who have experience and knowledge, are entrusted to employ the best person for the job.

I realise that I am questioning the very fabric of democracy here but bear with me.

Queensgate’s owners wouldn’t hand over control of the shopping centre to some bloke who had walked in off the street, just because they liked the look of his rosette; only in politics do we let 
people who we wouldn’t trust to wash our cars, 
determine the future direction of our city and our country.

We are told that in the interests of fairness it has to be one person, one vote, but it strikes me that the system is isn’t working very well, locally or nationally, and that we are not really ending up with the brains of Britain running the show.

I am not allowed to say too much about individuals or parties, for fear of influencing your votes in the local or police and crime commissioner elections, but suffice to say, the majority of politicians are a weird bunch, a bit like journalists.

They spend the majority of their time in a cocoon and just about everything they do or say is calculated to win your vote when they should be working in your best interests.

Maybe we need a new minimum requirement for voters and candidates alike, let’s call it the Lighthouse Family test; a series of questions designed to work out whether you have the brains you were born with.

I realise that what I am suggesting may be viewed as contentious or even discriminatory but isn’t it time we got professionals to run things instead of the bloke from bakers who has a bit of spare time?

I suppose we could wheel out Dale Winton and his impossibly orange face and turn the whole thing into a lottery, where everybody gets a chance to run things eventually, when their name is pulled out of Lancelot; that would be true democracy in action.

I am not advocating Stalinism or Fascism, just common sensism.

Should we continue to hand over millions of pounds to willing amateurs who fancy running a council or should we find a better way?

Who would you rather have running the country; Richard Branson or George Osbourne?

I know people fought and died for the vote and I don’t mean to make light of that struggle but are you seriously telling me that our present system works?

Whoever you vote for on May the 5th, just ask yourself this question; Will things really change?