Political banana skins

Sir, – What I have found interesting in elections of late is that it always seems to be the political banana skin that trips up an outgoing government. This is the thing that you don’t see coming and this is what becomes the big issue.

If we were to look back to the election of 2020, it was the pension age. The public made this detour from other political issues to focus totally on the pension age. It seemed everyone was fighting over what the pension age should be and, lo and behold, it suddenly became the huge issue of that election.

This is a reminder to all politicians to remember that sometimes the most scenic, picturesque and attractive roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take. Our prospective public representatives will need to be prepared to be open to travelling these scenic roads that the electorate will most surely take them on. – Yours, etc,

JOHN O’BRIEN,