I read with some surprise that news journalist Kenneth Bryan of CITN/Cayman 27 fame has resigned from the television station because he is considering trying his hand at politics.

Reading one of the usual less informed blogs on Cayman’s favorite blogger website, the most important criteria is his roots. “Who’s your mama?”

“How far back does he go
 as a Caymanian? How many generations?  Bryan is not an original Caymanian name.”

Oh my goodness. So that’s what makes a good politician?

The more informed did put the blogger straight. BRYAN is an old Cayman Brac family name.

So what makes a good politician? Why does someone want to become a politician? Many have tried and most have fallen.

It’s a difficult question and I am sure we all have different answers.

If we’re speaking of us, the press, it’s more than often as to what the politician says and how he/she says it. Does he/she have charisma? Good looks? Is the camera good to him or her? Unfortunately we press, as a body, pay less attention to what politicians are supposed to do.

Kenneth Bryan I know very little about. I have never met him. He did not arrive at CITN until a long time after I had left. But the camera likes him. He comes over as “a nice young man” and he has a very personable smile that makes me ‘warm’ to him.

However, none of those are attributes that make an effective member of our Legislative Assembly (LA).

I think the chief quality is honesty. Politics can be a dirty business and it is certainly the public’s perception of it, so we must have someone there we trust. The person must be able to work with others and to be able to continue over the years. You must be able to accept somebody else’s point of view, even if you strongly disagree with it, without lowering yourself to personal and derogatory name-calling. He/she must be on the level with their colleagues and not talk about them behind their backs. Now that’s difficult isn’t it?

Scouring the Internet I found that I seem to have covered the basics but I missed quite a lot. I list some I found interesting and ones I can agree with..

1. High energy
2. Keep a sense of humour
3. Being able to focus on the job in hand
4. Have few hobbies (there’s no time for more than two or three)
5. Ambitious
6. Have a hand in making the Cayman Islands great
7. Finding ways to make life better for everyone living here
8. Knowing how the system works to their advantage and using that knowledge to achieve results
9. Realising just how much a legislator can achieve

10. Understanding that your seat in the LA is not yours by right, even if you have held it for years. You are there to serve

11. Sensitivity. Able to talk to strangers, both the humble and the grand. Able to ‘read’ the room they are in and gauge the crowd

12. Give and take. The ability to find common ground. Learn to listen very carefully to the argument and how far you feel the person can be shifted in order to reach consensus

Ideology often blinkers you and should be discouraged. Intelligence is paramount. If you think only the good lies with you and the bad is all on the other side you will never accomplish anything. You must be able to take defeat with good grace. You must be able to take criticism because that goes with the job. Learn from it and proceed onwards.

Finally, never forget where you come from. Understand the needs of the district you represent. Remain loyal to your voters.  And ……. Become a statesman!

If you read this Kenneth, this advice has come from the finest politicians that have ever lived.

Do you recognise anyone in our present LA with any of these qualities?