POLITICAL EXPERIENCE

Getting the economy moving again is the most important political priority at the moment in Denmark, as it is in much of the rich world. Against that background, you would think that voters would choose politicians with business experience; or, at the very least, some work experience outside of politics.

If so, you would be wrong. Six of the Danish Cabinet's 23 members have never had any proper job outside of politics ("proper" means that a paper round doesn't count); and they include the Ministers of Finance, Taxation and Employment (technically, the Minister of Taxation is still a student!). A further four have had less than five years in the non-political workplace, and that includes the Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, with just two.

Politics is fast becoming a profession in itself. The proportion of Danish MP's who are academics (i.e. educated at university to Master's level) is 64%, or two in three, compared with a national average of just 7%. People are increasingly going from university straight into full-time politics, with perhaps just a couple of years working for a party organisation beforehand. If they get the timing right, then they can become a Minister at a very young age; in the main, it is these youngsters who lack work experience.

All Cabinets need balance, and I am not suggesting that youth is automatically bad or that age is automatically good. Nevertheless, the lack of work experience in the current Danish Cabinet is striking; and it is difficult for Danes to (eg) accept lectures about looking for work in difficult times from an Employment Minister who has hardly ever worked herself. No wonder the Government seems to be floundering.

Walter Blotscher