Labour Candidates

Gaidin109

Gaidin109

Gaidin109

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Joined
12 Jul 2009
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All five of the candidates for the leadership of the Labour party are Oxbridge educated.

Do they truely represent the majority of Labour voters or is this an attempt to emulate the Conservative party leadership.

What does this say about the political aspirations of alumni of other Universities, or indeed those with no university education at all.
 
Is there a question in there aside from the rhetorical ones.

It depends what you mean by represent? You don't have to have a similar background to someone else to understand them or be able to represent them well when it comes to dealing with issues that concern them. If you are asking whether the average Labour voter is Oxbridge educated then the answer is almost certainly no, that answer would remain for all parties I'd guess since most people are not Oxbridge educated. I can't imagine it is a attempt to emulate the Consevative leadership unless it is subconcious.

I'd suspect it says relatively little about the political aspirations of alumni from other universities - it might say something about those candidates as being the best possible out of the selection available or it might say something about the value of having a network of people you know through being alumnus of the same university. Equally likely is that it means nothing and has just occurred as random chance.
 
So what, what is the problem with that?

Soon there will be people complaining that all the candidates went to university at all.

What is the problem with being educated in this country?
 
Sorry, I was just wondering why a big deal is made out of the Oxbridge leadership of David Cameron and his "Eton Cronies" by the previous Labour leadership and yet they have nominated exactly what they attacked the Conservatives of being.
 
I wouldn’t want some uneducated thicko from a comprehensive standing. It would be a recipe for disaster. I think that you’re reading too much into this Oxbridge thing.
 
Gaidin109 said:
Sorry, I was just wondering why a big deal is made out of the Oxbridge leadership of David Cameron and his "Eton Cronies" by the previous Labour leadership and yet they have nominated exactly what they attacked the Conservatives of being.
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Ah, in that case then I'd say the perception is often more important than the reality in politics. The background of many career politicians is remarkably similar yet because of who they represent various facets of their past education/employment will be highlighted in place of actually investing the time to get to know what they really stand for. It's a funny sort of shorthand to work out what we should think that we are unduly fond of in this country although it may not be a failing common only to us.

Personally speaking I want to see the best* representing this country and couldn't give a stuff whether they are Oxbridge educated or failed their O-levels provided they are competent at their job and represent their constituents (plus the nation) well.

*nb best is an entirely spurious measure known only to me and varying according to what I think is most suitable at any given moment.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Ah, in that case then I'd say the perception is often more important than the reality in politics. The background of many career politicians is remarkably similar yet because of who they represent various facets of their past education/employment will be highlighted in place of actually investing the time to get to know what they really stand for. It's a funny sort of shorthand that we are unduly fond of in this country although it may not be a failing common only to us.

Personally speaking I want to see the best* representing this country and couldn't give a stuff whether they are Oxbridge educated or failed their O-levels provided they are competent at their job and represent their constituents (plus the nation) well.

*nb best is an entirely spurious measure known only to me and varying according to what I think is most suitable at any given moment.
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I agree. I just found it interesting that's all.

I am a Oxford graduate myself so I am not anti-education or anything like that.
 
Nothing wrong with going to Oxford or Cambridge if you're bright enough to do so. There is something wrong if you get in purely because your Dad is well connected, as is the case with David Milliband.
 
Gaidin109 said:
Do they truely represent the majority of Labour voters or is this an attempt to emulate the Conservative party leadership.
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Labour stopped doing that a long time ago.

It started roughly with Blair. New Labour lost its socialist roots. Who knows what New Labour + will be. Or could be, even.

Labour now has one hell of an image problem now that middle England has rejected it. Pretty hard to parcel it back up into the Labour party of the dock yards.

They are a shallow horrible mess, and no one wants anything to do with them except for a bunch of weegies. Stupidly.
 
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Gaidin109 said:
Sorry, I was just wondering why a big deal is made out of the Oxbridge leadership of David Cameron and his "Eton Cronies" by the previous Labour leadership and yet they have nominated exactly what they attacked the Conservatives of being.
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They made a big deal about it because Labour are full of **** and a bunch of hypocrites.
 
matthewhotdude said:
I don't care, a flying chimp could win as long as it stops Ed Balls
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As long as the chimp got a PhD from All Souls college then that's fine by me :p


Honestly though, there's nothing wrong with education. It's a horrible stereotype that oxford graduates are all rich toffs, rather than..yknow..just reasonably intelligent people?
 
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Jonny69 said:
So what, what is the problem with that?

Soon there will be people complaining that all the candidates went to university at all.

What is the problem with being educated in this country?
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Because some are better educated than others and actuallyy tried hard, as such it's a no-no to the socialists ... everyone needs to be exactly the same
 
I see absolutely no problem with it at all. If they're going to be running the country, then a good education can only help.
 
I don't get why being well educated is frowned upon? Would you prefer if someone only educated to high school was elected instead?
 
Moses99p said:
I'm curious as to why there's such a large number from Oxbridge - is there a mentally politicised culture in Oxford and Cambridge, or are the upper echelons of political parties dominated by old boy clubs?
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Because (generally) if you are clever you tend to go to the place that is best for your course ... Oxford & Cambridge have the best politics based courses.
Just like Imperial has the best Engineering course probably.
 
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