Bubb calls on charity CEOs to enter politics

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 2 Jun 2009

More charity chief executives should become MPs, according to Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo.

Bubb made the call in his blog this weekend saying that the large number of MPs resigning opened an opportunity for civil society leaders at the next general election.

“The charity sector is now the most trusted institution in the country,” he said. “And our leaders have exactly the skills needed to become legislators and ministers.”

Bubb added that the charity sector had many examples of people joining from the public and private sectors, but the “traffic was not yet both ways”.

“We ought to see more of our CEOs going into top jobs,” he said. “Our CEOs are masters of communication and advocacy, they understand the political systems, have great powers of motivation and the ability to lead their teams when money and resource is necessarily tight.

“They are risk-takers and enjoy innovation. They have vision and drive. So I hope we will see lots more third sector leaders become MPs.”

Report on unemployment and the third sector

Meanwhile, Acevo has released a report this week on unemployment and the third sector which argues that charities have a key role to play in providing key services during the recession to avoid long-term scarring effects to the most vulnerable in society.

The report, written by Will Hutton of the Work Foundation for Acevo, calls for improved national infrastructure to assist charities in effectively bidding for government funding, and enable organisations to form partnerships when these are required.

It also urges charities to ensure proper management procedures are in place to manage the influx of new, temporary workers brought in for short-term contracts.

Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
Who's Who: Vibeka Mair

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