I am sure that all of that is true. People are, I suspect, saying those things.
But there is something more important to say about Hannah Spencer, and that is that if she comes to parliament, as now looks likely, then she does so with a skill that she can fall back on if she needs to do so. Her trade is hers to keep. It is something she knows she can do if her days in Westminster come to an end. And that makes her independent of the political process.
That will make her a rare individual in parliament, where far too many now are either career politicians, having followed tbe university/think tank/politics route, or who have adjusted their lifestyle to the Westminster salary and expense style and then are terrified of losing it, because they know there is nothing else they can do that will make then remotely as well off. The result is that they, of course, become fodder to be abused by their whips, doing whatever is demanded of them because they have no choice. Politics is so much poorer as a result.
If Hannah Spencer avoids that situation by using her knowledge that she always has a plan B, she will become much more powerful as a politician. The ability to take a stand, knowing you can walk away, is vital to anyone who wants to hold an ethical position. She can do that. Very few in Westminster really share that freedom. We need more people who can think freely in that way. We would have better politics if we did.
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And we are missing highly articulate working class people like her. The trade union route used to provide the likes of Alan Johnson, Angela Rayner etc. and of course Mick Lynch of the RMT. There is a belief that working class means uneducated and lacking in intelligence, which Hannah clearly is not. I really hope she wins, she’s a breath of fresh air amidst all the seedy corruption currently unfolding. And the arrest of Peter Mandleson yesterday won’t be helping the Labour campaign. We are now going to have a slow drip feed of all his seedy goings on you back years which will make anything Starmer says look even more ridiculous.
Her piece in the Guardian yesterday was interesting. She is not just a protest candidate.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/23/gorton-and-denton-byelection-greens-reform-manchester
Very good.
Why not bring back a modern equivalent of the Cursus Honorum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_honorum
those seeking public office would be expected to have a trade or profession outside politics before standing for office?
As a ‘For Example’ I wonder how things might have panned out with the Palace of Westminster if there were a few MP’s entitled to put FRICS (Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) after their name?
🙂
Much to agree with
Great tweet, agree with your argument. Go Hannah!
Just remember, though, that having a ‘proper job’ with qualifications outside the PPE/council/party-activism/MP track may not lead to someone using their education and intelligence for the greater good: Steve Baker (ex MP, lost in 2024’s Labour landslide) was previously an engineer, yet still was a strident climate change denier, Kemi Badenoch some sort of computer/software engineer…
I agree that having more MPs who come from ‘grassroots everyday work’ rather than elite professions and institutions would bring a breath of fresh air to the foetid corridors of power.
I am talking real skills
The sort you can sell isolation
Not those that let you manage an inbox.
Hear, hear!
“Hannah Spencer” is misspelled in the fourth paragraph.
I really do not care as the “spill chucker” messes with me too on a regular basis.
However, Ms. Spencer appears substantially awesome so let’s give her the credit she deserves with no typos! LOL1 LOL!
Corrected.
Thanks.
I write with too mmuch haste.
Hello again Richard; I remember you saying that you have great respect for Robin McAlpine and his work at Common Weal.
The article from last August (linked below) is a good read in itself and relevant to your ‘Hannah Spencer’ post.
The following extract distills its essence:- “Really simply put, the most common professional background of a politician in China is ‘engineer’. In the US the most common professional background for a politicians is massively, overwhelmingly ‘lawyer’.”
https://robinmcalpine.org/engineering-a-better-parliament/
An unwelcome (but interesting) development in May’s Scottish election is that ALBA Party candidates may not be able to stand because irregularities in the party’s accounts for 2024 are under criminal investigation. ALBA were planning to field List candidates in all Regions, promoting a ‘Max the YES’ vote. i.e. ALBA suggested voting for SNP candidates on the Constituency ballot and ALBA on the Regional List.
On current polling, SNP candidates are likely to do sufficiently well on Constituency voting that, under Scotland’s proportional voting system, few (if any) List seats will be won by the SNP. I understand that several top-ranked ALBA candidates may stand as Independents if HQ policy dictates against standing under the party banner. You can’t get much more independent than that!
All noted.
ALBA seems to have become shambolic, at best.
In an attempt to discredit her, there are apparently 11th hour false claims circulating that she owns a number of properties. That sounds to me like she’s a winner!
It’s an amusing one for sure.
This one from Harry Eccles also amuses, despite the tragedy it references
https://x.com/Heccles94/status/2026205684245594125
Talk about getting owned by facts