For the first time in a long while I went to County Hall the other day and was struck by the fact that I didn't see anyone of any notoriety the whole time I was there. I don't mean notorious in the dastardly villain sense, rather the mildly notable is-that-the-bloke-I-sometimes-see-on-Spotlight sense. I may have just picked the wrong time to be wandering around the old carbuncle's gleaming 2001 style interiors, and I shouldn't be so superficial, but I was kind of hoping to bump into, say, a Bert Biscoe or a Pat Harvey or (for old time's sake) an Andrew Mitchell. I did see a lot of Members milling in and out of the mysterious wooden doors (I may have spied Jim Currie, but I wasn't sure he looked angry enough) but I'd be hard-pressed to put a name to any of them.
I know it's "early doors" and that I should hope that the, still relatively new, Cornwall Councillors are too busy cracking on with the job to worry about a media profile, but I honestly want politics at whatever level to have some sort of edge to it. Politics is full of desperately dull, on-message automatons (of all parties and no parties) scared to rock the boat in case they lose the trappings of power (such as they are). The likes of Dennis Skinner, Ken Clarke and Charles Kennedy seem to belong to a bygone, slightly more 'warts and all' era of politics and there doesn't seem to be any sign of a new generation to replace them when they shuffle off the the House of Lords (possibly not in Mr Skinner's case).
Similarly it doesn't seem that Cornwall Council has yet managed to find quality replacements for Steve Barnes, Armorel Carlyon, the aforementioned Mr Mitchell and many others. One or two from the new intake show a touch of promise - Ruth Lewarne for the Lib Dems, Andrew Wallis for the Indies and the stunningly bonkers Jim Flashman for the Tories - but by and large we're looking at a sea of mediocrity.
Perhaps my headline is a little harsh but prove me wrong, new guys!
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