February 10, 2025

I expect to be disagreed with. That’s better than being a politician who decides to say nothing serious.

John Sewell (1940- ), Canadian politician, Toronto mayor, The Globe and Mail, 22 October 1979, in Colombo p.414

When was the last time you said something genuinely serious? If elected tomorrow, what would be the first serious thing you would say?

Disagreeing with one’s colleagues is not a long-term strategy for political success (as majorities carry the day), but it does have one advantage. It sets the one off against the many, and as most politicians are held in low regard, it may lift the regard in which one would otherwise not be held. No one respects, let alone fondly remembers, a feckless politician.