Crosswords1 min ago
Good News About Ukip
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Rod Liddle, in the Sunday Times, reports that UKIP is now using psychometric testing of its candidates. This is to ensure that they have candidates that conform to some standard. Many have failed to pass, though you'll be pleased to know the man who made famous reference to 'Bongo Bongo Land' did.
Is the testing good news?. We'll miss all, or most, of the eccentricity of such as Anne-Marie Crampton, council candidate in East Sussex, who said World War II and the Holocaust were all the fault of the Jews or Geoffrey Clark who wanted compulsory abortion of foetuses with spina bifida and Down's syndrome. The party will be full of boring stereotypical politicians.
Is the testing good news?. We'll miss all, or most, of the eccentricity of such as Anne-Marie Crampton, council candidate in East Sussex, who said World War II and the Holocaust were all the fault of the Jews or Geoffrey Clark who wanted compulsory abortion of foetuses with spina bifida and Down's syndrome. The party will be full of boring stereotypical politicians.
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Good point, AOG. Of course, they may do, but like you, I at least suspect they don't use psychometric testing. Would Boris pass? Who knows.
The Tories certainly use some pretty tough interviews and these are backed up by some quite odd tests. My ex, having survived the preliminaries, was referred to a voice coach and expert, who heard her apparently perfect RP accent and asked "Which part of the Trough of Bowland or that area of Lancashire do you come from?" Correct. She says "is it not" instead of "isn't it", which only people from there regularly do. No stone unturned !
Rod Liddle himself was tested by psychometric tests. The result said that he wasn't sufficiently driven. Since he had come from nowhere, as a youth, to heading the Today programme as editor and is now a columnist on a top paper, he did wonder how valid the test was
The Tories certainly use some pretty tough interviews and these are backed up by some quite odd tests. My ex, having survived the preliminaries, was referred to a voice coach and expert, who heard her apparently perfect RP accent and asked "Which part of the Trough of Bowland or that area of Lancashire do you come from?" Correct. She says "is it not" instead of "isn't it", which only people from there regularly do. No stone unturned !
Rod Liddle himself was tested by psychometric tests. The result said that he wasn't sufficiently driven. Since he had come from nowhere, as a youth, to heading the Today programme as editor and is now a columnist on a top paper, he did wonder how valid the test was
Gromit
Or the Labour party with persons such as Tony Blair.
/// "If there is one thing Britain should learn from the last 50 years, it is this: Europe can only get more important for us." ///
/// "We'll negotiate a withdrawal from the EEC"(now the EU)"which has drained our natural resources and destroyed jobs". Tony Blair, before he became an MP, in 1983. Mr Blair is now an enthusiastic supporter of the EU and asserts that Britain must "be at the heart of Europe". ///
/// One reason I changed the Labour Party is so that we can remain true to our principles." Tony Blair ///
/// "I don't make predictions. I never have and I never will." Tony Blair ///
/// "The single most important two things we can do..." Tony Blair ///
Or the Labour party with persons such as Tony Blair.
/// "If there is one thing Britain should learn from the last 50 years, it is this: Europe can only get more important for us." ///
/// "We'll negotiate a withdrawal from the EEC"(now the EU)"which has drained our natural resources and destroyed jobs". Tony Blair, before he became an MP, in 1983. Mr Blair is now an enthusiastic supporter of the EU and asserts that Britain must "be at the heart of Europe". ///
/// One reason I changed the Labour Party is so that we can remain true to our principles." Tony Blair ///
/// "I don't make predictions. I never have and I never will." Tony Blair ///
/// "The single most important two things we can do..." Tony Blair ///
FredPuli, if I remember correctly, Liddle's marriage broke up in record time because his wife caught him with Viagra in his jacket that he wasn't using on her. This might suggest he was driven - but not by politics or ethics or conscientiousness. He'd have been an embarrassment as a parliamentarian. That suggests the test did its job.
They need to be careful that they don't go the same way as the Monster Raving Looney Party. When they stopped losing their deposits they thought the political tide was turning in their favour and started to be more selective about prospective candidates. Look where that got them: they're still in the wilderness.
ichkeria, to be fair to Bongo Bongo man (does nobody remember his name without being reminded via Google?) he was not condemned for his policy but for his golf club language, which is the language of ordinary people in Yorkshire (we are led to believe). He wasn't suggesting that the Jews were to blame for anything or seem to be arguing that spina bifida foetuses ought to be considered worthy of compulsory abortion.
jake-the-peg
/// "If there is one thing Britain should learn from the last 50 years, it is this: Europe can only get more important for us." ///
/// And your argument with that is...? ///
I don't know but ask Mr Blair who once said;
/// "We'll negotiate a withdrawal from the EEC"(now the EU)"which has drained our natural resources and destroyed jobs". ///
/// "If there is one thing Britain should learn from the last 50 years, it is this: Europe can only get more important for us." ///
/// And your argument with that is...? ///
I don't know but ask Mr Blair who once said;
/// "We'll negotiate a withdrawal from the EEC"(now the EU)"which has drained our natural resources and destroyed jobs". ///
driven is driven
I know what you mean, but another way of looking at it might be "easily distracted". If a man can't even concentrate on being married, how likely is he to concentrate on his job?
As I recall, while editing Today, he was also writing newspaper columns; one boss or the other eventually suggested he ought to abandon one income stream. Of course, you might argue that raking in as much money as possible from as many sources as possible is all too typical of politicians; none the less, it's probably not what parties are actually looking for in candidates, and any tests that throw this up are likely to be doing their job.
I know what you mean, but another way of looking at it might be "easily distracted". If a man can't even concentrate on being married, how likely is he to concentrate on his job?
As I recall, while editing Today, he was also writing newspaper columns; one boss or the other eventually suggested he ought to abandon one income stream. Of course, you might argue that raking in as much money as possible from as many sources as possible is all too typical of politicians; none the less, it's probably not what parties are actually looking for in candidates, and any tests that throw this up are likely to be doing their job.
Boris is something of a special case, sidling into politics from journalism - where ethics are equally elastic - with the aid of an old school tie. Being a maverick is a qualification for the London mayoralty, as Ken had already shown; and his (supposedly) triumphant occupation of that job will be seen as a reason for not putting him through messy psychometric testing.
If he did undergo tests, as you say, he would certainly fail.
If he did undergo tests, as you say, he would certainly fail.
