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With a career that has included 10 years spent as a council officer, 15 as a councillor, and 11 as an MP, minister Hazel Blears ingests politics like others have hot dinners. Her passion for the subject is especially obvious when discussing the role of politics in local government, a subject she fully understands from her career as a council legal officer. Her complaint is fourfold – that the public confuse the healthy cut and thrust of political debate with rows and arguments, that national politicians themselves lack confidence in what they do, that local authorities see even their own councillors as a species to be kept at arm's length, and that young people are poorly educated about politics. She cites the example of ‘my own council' – she refuses to confirm if it is Salford, her constituency and home town – which told her it needed legal advice before allowing local political parties to take a stand at an event promoting, of all things, Democracy Day. As she says: ‘It just shows a lack of confidence by the council.' Ms Blears is also ‘interested in the idea' of bringing in a duty for local authorities to promote democracy as part of her response to the Councillors' Commission report, adding: ‘I hate to issue guidance all the time, believing councils should just get on with things. But there's a lack of confidence by councils about politics, and we need a dramatic culture change.' She adds: ‘Once one has a duty, then it will be measured in the CPA or CAA, and that's a powerful set of levers.' Recalling her own career as an officer, she says: ‘I was an aberration for regarding politics as part of the officer's job.' She is also critical of the paperwork generated by councils for their members. ‘We don't need great wads of paper. Maybe the officers hope that way, they can slip something through. ‘There's something about the system which is designed to keep everyone out. ‘But councillors should have the confidence to challenge the system.' Asked how her CLG civil servants compare, in terms of generating paper, she replies: ‘Their reports are not quite on one side of A4, but they're quite rigorous about sticking to four sides of A4 maximum. ‘Civil servants certainly have better writing skills than council officers.' She also pledges to speak to her Cabinet colleague, education secretary, Ed Balls, about ‘getting more politics into the curriculum'. Reflecting some of the feedback from The MJ event from the audience (see this page) about young people's lack of understanding of politics, she adds: ‘Citizenship is on the curriculum at secondary schools but 75% of it is not terribly good. ‘It works where it is hands-on. If it was better, more young people might want to be involved with tenants associations or running community groups.' Ms Blears also recognises that scepticism about politics is also down to how it is portrayed. ‘Politics is a core business to democracy which relies on vibrant political parties. And political parties should talk about the importance of politics at every level. ‘The trouble is, there's a bit of a crisis in politics, not helped by sleaze allegations.' She adds: ‘The basis of politics is contesting. At present, in Britain, if one has an argument, it's a row. It's legitimate to have a political argument and doesn't mean we're ferrets fighting in a sack.'

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WHITEHALL

Why we need more politics, more politics, not less

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