Personality politics. What’s not to like?

Some people like to vote for personalities.

It’s all about the leader.

So some people sing ‘Oh, Jeremy Corbyn’ as though he’s the messiah.

Others, with different politics, believe ‘Good Old Boris’ will sort it all out with a witty turn of phrase and a tousling of his hair.

The Americans voted for a bit of a personality in Donald Trump, didn’t they?

No one was absolutely sure what he believed or what he would do, but, well – he was sure as hell a bit different.

‘Let’s give him a go!’

With the re-election of Angela Merkel as Chancellor, however, it seems the Germans prefer a different model: stability.

Angela Merkel makes no play on her personality…apart from her normality.

No one thinks she’s the messiah.

(And to be honest, Germany may be a bit wary of those.)

But in a turbulent world, they just like the stability of her policies.

Personality politics gets people excited, it draws large crowds, it promises great things.

But it will always let them down, because the personality will let them down.

The human personality is seriously flawed, and – whether in business or politics – power only makes things worse.

So we won’t blur policy and personality, they are best kept separate.

We may wish to vote for their policies.

But if it’s all about personality, we vote for something with more cracks than an evening with Tim Vine.