Brace yourself for some numbers.
The average age of the Ministers in Margaret Thatcher's first cabinet in 1979 was 54 years old - the same age coincidentally as Thatcher herself. In David Cameron's first cabinet in 2010 the average age was 51 years old. This may not seem like a huge difference until you look at the increase in life expectancy over the same period. A boy born in 1980 could expect to live on average to be 71 years old and a girl to be 77 years old. In 2009 the equivalent numbers were 79 and 83 respectively*. If this trend had been mirrored in the Cabinet then the average age of Cameron's Ministers would have been 59 years old.
And the final numbers: in 1979 the average age of the holders of the four biggest posts (Prime Minister, Chancellor, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary) was 57, whilst in 2010 it was just 47 years old.
Although it is harder to get numbers for other parts of the workforce (if you can, please let me know) anecdotally I sense that this trend is not restricted to politics but extends to the civil service, local government, FTSE 100 companies and most other sectors. The people running our society are becoming younger - both absolutely and relatively.
So does this matter?
The optimist would suggest that it is a good thing that our leaders are becoming younger. We no longer bow and scrape at the altar of age - if you are good enough then you are old enough. Younger leaders have the energy required to thrive in the pacier, more demanding modern world. They may have a better understanding of the latest technological and social changes which will drive innovation and they may have the hungrier ambition required to get things done. Therefore the fact that our leaders are younger than their predecessors is simply a sign of a more meritocratic, progressive society - we are getting better at managing ourselves.
There is probably something in this. But in my view the youthfulness of our leaders makes it less likely that they can deliver on their most important task - making the right decisions. During the interviews for my book I asked people how they made good decisions. Some gave useful frameworks and questions they would ask themselves but most said that at some point their decisions would boil down to instinct based on experience. 'I wish my father was still alive because I owe him a big apology' Ken Livingstone told me. 'I used to point to Alexander the Great and say that a 25 year old could do anything no problem. My dad would be much more cynical and would tell me there are just things that come with the passage of time and that you can’t short circuit. And he was right. You cannot teach in a university what a 25 year old needs to know as a junior social worker about how to handle people. These things just come with experience.'
This seems convincing to me. It seems highly likely that David Cameron and George Osborne, no matter how bright and talented they might be, will be better at doing their jobs in ten years time than they are now. And in terms of age and experience (if not perhaps public perception) Tony Blair is a more qualified person to be leading the Labour Party at the moment than Ed Miliband.
There are of course older people who still occupy positions of responsibility. Obvious examples are Bernie Ecclestone, Warren Buffet and Rupert Murdoch (all eighty-two). Likewise PD James continues at the age of ninety-two to produce highly successful and ambitious novels and, if you are lucky enough to see her, she gives terrific talks too. What distinguishes these people is that they control their destinies and do not suffer from institutional pressures (both explicit and implicit) to give way to younger successors.
I draw two conclusions from this. First of all, younger managers should find ways of exploiting the experience of their predecessors which go beyond the infrequent fireside chat. Secondly, we should do our best to create an environment in which it is normal for people to stay in post for as long as they can contribute - if you are good enough, you are young enough.
* The statistics about life expectancy come from here: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/population/deaths/life-expectancies
The average age of the Ministers in Margaret Thatcher's first cabinet in 1979 was 54 years old - the same age coincidentally as Thatcher herself. In David Cameron's first cabinet in 2010 the average age was 51 years old. This may not seem like a huge difference until you look at the increase in life expectancy over the same period. A boy born in 1980 could expect to live on average to be 71 years old and a girl to be 77 years old. In 2009 the equivalent numbers were 79 and 83 respectively*. If this trend had been mirrored in the Cabinet then the average age of Cameron's Ministers would have been 59 years old.
And the final numbers: in 1979 the average age of the holders of the four biggest posts (Prime Minister, Chancellor, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary) was 57, whilst in 2010 it was just 47 years old.
Although it is harder to get numbers for other parts of the workforce (if you can, please let me know) anecdotally I sense that this trend is not restricted to politics but extends to the civil service, local government, FTSE 100 companies and most other sectors. The people running our society are becoming younger - both absolutely and relatively.
So does this matter?
The optimist would suggest that it is a good thing that our leaders are becoming younger. We no longer bow and scrape at the altar of age - if you are good enough then you are old enough. Younger leaders have the energy required to thrive in the pacier, more demanding modern world. They may have a better understanding of the latest technological and social changes which will drive innovation and they may have the hungrier ambition required to get things done. Therefore the fact that our leaders are younger than their predecessors is simply a sign of a more meritocratic, progressive society - we are getting better at managing ourselves.
There is probably something in this. But in my view the youthfulness of our leaders makes it less likely that they can deliver on their most important task - making the right decisions. During the interviews for my book I asked people how they made good decisions. Some gave useful frameworks and questions they would ask themselves but most said that at some point their decisions would boil down to instinct based on experience. 'I wish my father was still alive because I owe him a big apology' Ken Livingstone told me. 'I used to point to Alexander the Great and say that a 25 year old could do anything no problem. My dad would be much more cynical and would tell me there are just things that come with the passage of time and that you can’t short circuit. And he was right. You cannot teach in a university what a 25 year old needs to know as a junior social worker about how to handle people. These things just come with experience.'
This seems convincing to me. It seems highly likely that David Cameron and George Osborne, no matter how bright and talented they might be, will be better at doing their jobs in ten years time than they are now. And in terms of age and experience (if not perhaps public perception) Tony Blair is a more qualified person to be leading the Labour Party at the moment than Ed Miliband.
There are of course older people who still occupy positions of responsibility. Obvious examples are Bernie Ecclestone, Warren Buffet and Rupert Murdoch (all eighty-two). Likewise PD James continues at the age of ninety-two to produce highly successful and ambitious novels and, if you are lucky enough to see her, she gives terrific talks too. What distinguishes these people is that they control their destinies and do not suffer from institutional pressures (both explicit and implicit) to give way to younger successors.
I draw two conclusions from this. First of all, younger managers should find ways of exploiting the experience of their predecessors which go beyond the infrequent fireside chat. Secondly, we should do our best to create an environment in which it is normal for people to stay in post for as long as they can contribute - if you are good enough, you are young enough.
* The statistics about life expectancy come from here: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/population/deaths/life-expectancies
