I spent 22 years in municipal politics, serving six terms in elected office and working on matters ranging from planning permission on a single site to long-term strategic policy. Those years exposed me to the full spectrum of public life: the inspiring, the ridiculous, and the deeply frustrating. It’s been said (by Robert Louis Stevenson) that politics is the only profession for which no training is required. He was right! But after more than two decades inside politics, I think I am pretty well trained—with a clear sense of what works, what fails, and what needs to change.

This site is about sharing those lessons. The more than four hundred quotations to be found here—one set for every day of the year, and another for every week of the year—are drawn from every age of history. They reveal perennial issues, as real today as they were when they were written, whether two or two thousand years ago. The meditations that accompany them suggest what we can apply from them to politics as practiced today. My commentary is not offered as an answer to the issue at hand, just my view, with which you can agree or not. Of course, given the current reputation of politicians as a class—whether deserved or otherwise—the fact is we will always need politicians, since the alternatives have no place in a democracy. I just want them to be good politicians.

This entire exercise is meant to help readers think bigger and reflect more deeply on what effective public service requires. And yes, a sense of humour helps too.

My goal is simple. I want to leave behind something useful. Something honest. Something that helps others lead with more clarity, integrity, and purpose. If you have ever wondered how we can demand better from our leaders, or from ourselves, I invite you to join me on this journey.

Let’s think, learn, and lead more intentionally together.

HAVE YOU READ MY BOOK?