James Cleverly, UK Foreign Secretary, on When Politicians Make Mistakes

After a turbulent few weeks in politics, Andy Lopata shares his interview in 2018, for his book ‘Just Ask’ with the current UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. Andy wanted to explore whether we allow our politicians to be vulnerable and authentic. Or, is every slip, every doubt and every marginal turn magnified? For James there is in politics a ‘massive disincentive to show any kind of vulnerability, any kind of weakness, or any lack of knowledge’. The confrontational nature of Westminster politics encourages this attitude. James explains how this works using the example of the ‘dementia tax’ which caused accusations of a policy U-turn derailing the launch of the 2017 manifesto. He accepts that in other environments such as the military and business, there is an understanding that making mistakes is part of a learning and evolutionary process and people are comfortable with that. James and Andy discuss the possibility of a change in the Westminster culture with a healthier environment in government.  But is that possible? In cross-party work and in committees there are good personal relationships but in our system of binary politics, are we putting unreasonable expectations on our politicians, the expectation that they have all the answers?   At the time of this interview Theresa May was the British Prime Minister and James had just been appointed as Chairman of the Conservative Party.