“The corridors of power are very dimly lit.” Peaky Blinders

The longer we self-isolate and read or watch the news, the more we realize that we have elected some really dim bulbs.

It doesn’t matter what country you live in, we are all finding out that we have some politicians who just aren’t up to the task when it comes to leading the nation in a fight against a pandemic. Some of them are in denial, some are making bad choices, some are in thrall to their leader, some are lying to us, and some are just AWOL.

We are also finding out that the bright sparks are worth their weight in gold. There are some corners of the corridors of power that, thankfully, are lit by the wisdom and decisiveness of a few people. It’s a shame there aren’t more of them, but we are very glad for those we have.

The one thing I know for sure because of this global crisis is that I want our elections to be done completely differently. We need to stop voting for personalities that televise well and start voting for the person with the qualifications and experience that fit the job. In fact, we should view it as selecting a candidate just as we would select a candidate for any important position in the workplace.

I want:

• to see the CV’s of all the candidates including their education, work experience, public service, leadership experience, and skill sets
• the media to stop broadcasting political rallies and any other event that is primarily a photo opportunity
• an end to first-past-the-post voting
• mail-in ballots distributed universally, with postage-paid return envelopes
• character references from former colleagues, or employees, or employers
• to stop the televised debates but, instead, have the candidates work with people of a different political party to solve a hypothetical problem and televise that process

We need to know what the candidates bring to the table, that they can tackle difficult problems, and that they can make hard choices. In short, we need them to have expertise and an ethical code that have already been tried and tested.

If they look good on television, that may actually be a disadvantage. They must be well qualified, not necessarily well-coiffed.