Anna Bligh and Political Personalities

Having a mind that unfortunately only starts working when there’s something to analyse or contrast I tend to think of politicians falling into various shapes and guises. For example:

• The ‘Fire-fighter’: the type of politician who only gets energy when dealing with crises, or when thrown into some bitter public dispute. This animal thrives on confrontation and quarrel and is a master of political tricks and deception. John Reid and David Blunkett come to mind.
  
  
• The ‘Implementer’: the silent and unassuming type of politician who quietly gets on with implementing the commands of those more senior, building a reputation for robust but unimaginative delivery. Which makes a good basis for slow but steady progression through the ranks – Alastair Darling’s a perfect example.
  
  
• The ‘Big-tenter’: the politician who strives to canvass a wide range of views and build consensus. Tends to be viewed as nice but indecisive, and probably not destined for the big portfolios. Hillary Benn perhaps?
  
  
• The ‘Party loyalist’: the politician who likes to be seen as the one with their ear closest to the party’s grassroots and a champion of the views of the man in the street. Likely to play a key bridging role between policy and party (and the accompanying baggage) and be a solid and immovable character. John Prescott played this role for almost two decades.
  
  
• The ‘Planter-shaper’: the big-picture ideas and problem-solving type of politician who develops a reputation for having the most creative and unorthodox ideas. This is a high-risk, high-return strategy and the fastest route to the top if played well. The two Millibands and Purnell are probably the best current UK examples.
  
  
• The ‘Investigator-Evaluator’: the scrutinising type of politician, always with a keen eye on finding new ways of operating. An analytical animal by nature, the investigator-evaluator politician scans for best-practice though perhaps with a view more to improving existing policy practices than the more fundamental ‘questioning the question’ type strategy role.
  
  
• The ‘Specialist’: a rare breed of politician, one who is a technical expert in their field and has generally has high levels of professional credibility. Lord Darzi perhaps falls in this category; Ivan Lewis has been cultivating a similar reputation in social care over recent years.
  
  
• The ‘Controller-dictator’: one of the worst types of politicians whose lust for power can result in controlling tendencies, monitoring all they command and control. Unfortunately, and most tragically, this can sometimes be without a reason why.
  

I’ve seen Queensland’s Premier Anna Bligh in action a few times now and I must say she’s an impressive politician. Probably a combination of the 'investigator-evaluator', 'big-tenter' and 'implementer' it’s driving a real cultural shift in the public service here towards more serious long term policy and planning. By all accounts this is in marked contrast to the previous – and successful – Premier, Peter Beattie, who I’m told fell more into the ‘fire-fighter’ camp.