Andy Jaeger social media and social change

Being Sralan 2

A while ago, I suggested that taking Sir Alan Sugar's decisive approach would make for better political judgments by the electorate. Being Sralan didn't help Ken, but now it seems that Sralan might be in the frame as Labour's candidate for the next London mayoral election.

He'd certainly be an interesting choice, and to be honest, his support of Labour came as a bit of a surprise to me. I suppose I labour under the misapprehension that business people will be politically conservative, though I realise that perception is somewhat behind the times. While he's hedged his bets in response to suggestions that he's being talked about, I for one think he might be good for London. Apart from anything else, I'd love to see the moment he told Boris, "You're a total shambles. You're fired."

The other thing it signals is that Ken can't take his selection as Labour's candidate for granted. Having campaigned for Ken, I was sad to see him lose, but I've been sadder to see his inability to let go and move on. Hanging around your old place of work can't be good for anyone. Surely there's a friendly job centre that can take him in hand and help him look at his job options. How can he go to a job interview if he doesn't know his job options?

Actually, it does get me thinking. What do you do once you've been at the top of the tree? It can't be easy. There's a great line in Season 2 of the West Wing, when Jed Bartlett comments to Leo McGarry that being President of the United States is the last job he'll ever have. It makes me worry for people who climb the career ladder too early, who peak too soon. If it's hard enough for Ken to walk away at an age when most people are retiring, how hard can it be to be faced with walking away 20 years before. Where do you go and what do you do?

I suppose you can always reinvent yourself as the star of TV reality show. Now here's an interesting idea - Sralan gets City Hall and Ken gets the boardroom with Nick and Margaret. Now that's a show I would watch.