Where have all the leaders gone?

A number of readers have emailed me this week suggesting I write a blog on the Britsh General Election. "There must be lots of juicy leadership subjects to talk about" they said.

If there are, I can't see them. In fact, what the British election (and ongoing debacle) shows me is that politics, in Britain at least, is currently bereft of true leadership.

What do I mean? Quite simply this: in their personal drive for power Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg (Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat) appear to have forgotten what the nation needs is leadership. Instead what they are giving us is more politics.

The Labour party and Gordon Brown have made one last throw of the dice to try and keep the party in power. In a move that would see one unelected Prime Minister replaced by another, Brown has decided to stand down thereby opening the way for Nick Clegg to play a powerful role in the new coalition cabinet and have a hand in selecting the next Prime Minister.

The Convervatives are throwing more and more 'sweetners' into the deal with Nick Clegg. In a move that could lead to a considerable loss of power in the House of Commons, David Cameron has offered Clegg major electorial reform, which might see Britain move from 'First Past the Post' to 'Proportional Representation' by the time of the next election.

All the while the Liberal Democrats are sitting in the middle trying to decide which boy to go to the Prom with.

Whilst I am not a political expert what I can see is this: if these three politicians want to show true leadership they must get together to agree what is best for the country regardless of the impact on their party. I know politics is much more complex than this. But in a simplistic way that is exactly my point. A few political careers are being weighed against what is best for the entire nation. It is plain wrong.

Does the Labour party really believe that five years of a Conservative government would be a "disaster" for the country? Could Britain be in a more disastrous economic state? And what if Labour were to hang onto power. Would anything really change? Let's be honest: No. Does that matter? I'm not convinced. Yes, the country needs something fresh. But whoever wins in the end is going to have to do the same thing in pretty much the same way.

It's not exactly Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, is it?

Most frustrating of all is the fact that the three political leaders understand this point, and still they cannot give the country what it needs: certainty. As the financial markets wobble, the behaviour of Brown, Cameron and Clegg tells me all I need to know about their leadership instincts. And as a consequence I'm not confident the future's bright for Britain.