As we enter the final straight of the 2024 General Election campaign, I’m reflecting on the important issues being discussed. The economy? Health and social care? Defence? The cost of living? The environment? All these things are important of course (and please don’t judge me for the issues I haven’t included in this list) but there is another issue that has featured in recent political debates – one that, in my view, underpins everything: that of integrity.
Do our politicians care about integrity, and do we care enough about integrity in our politicians? Perhaps it is human nature to put our own interests first (I find it difficult to believe in pure altruism), and so political campaigns tend to be based on persuading voters that they will be better off with a particular government. Of course, voters don’t vote as a collective; they vote (in secret) according to their own unique set of interests. Nevertheless, somewhere in the equation that measures self-interest must surely be the ability to trust the party and all those who represent it not to put their own interests first. And for that to happen, we need to be able to trust that the party has the right culture.
More about trust
So trust and integrity are inextricably linked. But what exactly do we mean by ‘trust’? By way of example, if I want to enjoy the thrill of a rollercoaster at a theme park (which I don’t), I need to be able to trust the rollercoaster operator and the engineers who designed it. And if I want to be able to vote on 4 July for a Member of Parliament to put the interests of the public (including me) before their own interests, I need to be able to trust at least one of the candidates to act with integrity – to at least try to do the things they say they will.
There are two types of trust: blind trust and trust based on the evidence. If I don’t research the safety record of a rollercoaster operator and all those involved in the construction of the rollercoaster that I’m about to (hypothetically) climb aboard, then I am exercising blind trust. In the case of a General Election, we have evidence gathered during the incumbent government’s last term of office, as well as all the information thrust at us during the campaign period. But to trust in the future still seems, to me, to require an element of blind trust … and that (like a rollercoaster) can be a little scary.
I should make clear now that I am not making a party political point in this article; I am simply asking the question of how important integrity and trust are in how we cast our vote. I have been pleased to see that all the major parties have been challenged on this point. I think trust in politicians has always been thin, but these days, a major issue is specifically that of integrity and how we can trust the government of the future to act with integrity.
Final thoughts
There are times when we simply need to be able to trust others, because those others have the knowledge, experience and/or resources that we don’t have. The election of those we want to represent us, and to act on our behalf, is just such a time. As a qualified accountant who has been in practice and spent many years regulating as well as supporting accountants, I recognise the importance of being able to trust a professional. Perhaps a professional accountancy body is a little like a political party, competing for your trust. A member of that accountancy body would be pleased to be able to reassure potential clients (the voters in this analogy) that they are trustworthy – not on the basis of blind trust, but on the basis of their professional body membership. Like a political party, a professional body must also be trustworthy and be seen to be trustworthy - with a culture of integrity that enforces high professional standards among its members, and a code of ethics that underpins its regulatory framework. It might even be argued that a strong ethical culture will reassure a client that their accountant will always act in their best interests.
Comments