The world today is a lot different from that of 60 years ago and beyond. The coming of teen idols in the 1950s such as Elvis Presley, Tommy Steele, Adam Faith and Cliff Richard changed all that. Seriously though, I don't doubt that the pursuit of popularity has always been with us because history is riddled with examples of people wanted to be loved by their peers.
When Will Young shot to fame in 2002 as the first winner of "Pop Idol", a whole new industry was born which soon spread relentlessly beyond the spheres of popular music. It was at about the same time as this that the Tony Blair government was beginning to master the art. He also learned that you can fool some of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time but never all of the people all of the time. In keeping with his instinct for being in the right place when it was to his advantage, he vacated Downing Street in 2007 when he saw what was on the horizon. Far better to step aside and let someone else deal with that particular tsunami of doom.
Famously, Max Clifford has made his fortune as a publicist for the stars. Many of them have benefited from his ability to garner support for their cause when accused of something unpalatable. This has now assumed an irony of its own as Mr Clifford himself defends himself against accusations of impropriety with girls aged 14 to 19.
Since its election in 2010, the coalition can hardly be accused of courting popularity with the electorate. For reasons beyond its control, it has had to take decisions which they would rather not have taken. These decisions are not vote winners but they are being made with the future of the country in mind. Whether my brief assessment here is correct or not will ultimately be decided by you and I if we can be bothered to exercise our right to vote in 2015.
It is not just at national level that the quest for popularity is taking place. Yesterday, I read with a mixture of disbelief and astonishment the minutes of a recent meeting held by Denbighshire County Council. Last week, they took it upon themselves to explore ways in which they could achieve their stated goal of "being closer to the community". The problem here is that they ought to be concentrating not on their perceived popularity but on the validity of their decisions. If they have to question their decisions, they have very likely made the wrong ones in the first place. The recent decision to close a village primary school has attracted waves of resentment. What intrigues me is why they are surprised?
Last week, they announced their intention to pursue a compulsory purchase order on the former North Wales Hospital. This translates to a fait accompli. Given that they will undoubtedly make millions out of property development, it seems a bit rich to be closing what is after all, only a very small community primary school. It is precisely schools such as this one in which they should be investing. Seeking to close them down is counter intuitive.
The paranoid announcements made by several councillors are truly mind boggling. Should they ever think to stop what they are doing and consider why there are such high levels of animosity against the council, the answer shouldn't be too long in smacking them with the tenderness of an iron girder. Put simply, they could scarcely be doing more to disengage themselves from the people whom they purport to serve. The recent proposal to close St Brigids in Denbigh is just yet another example of their short sighted thinking. Rather then acting to support communities, the majority of their actions seem designed to destroy them. If the locality is to once more become vibrant, local communites will be the drivers because history tells us they always have been.
I would candidly suggest to the local council that instead of debating their unpopularity, they would be better served exploring the reasons for it. Therein lies the answer. Of course, nor must we discount the possibility that their stated aspiration to be closer to the community is just words designed to look good. For their sakes, I hope the latter isn't true because I get the distinct feeling that the people are poised to do battle. There comes a point when constant pushing will invoke a response.
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