Men in their late 70 s running countries

TerriBull

As far as I know, Rishi Sunak did not preside over out of control assisted dying or try and lock people out of their bank accounts for not wishing to have the Covid vaccine. Not in the same league as Trudeau and Arden imo.

I agree 👍

Rishi picked up after Liz Truss, he was handed a poison chalice and managed to mitigate the damage she caused.

Sarnia

To lead a country you need a certain level of experience of the world and that comes with age. Elderly is 75 and over and in my view too old to be running a country.
I would far rather see more women in charge. I don't think we would have anything like the wars and conflicts we have at the moment if more women were at the helm.

I wonder what age you are when forming that view? I'm 76 and do not feel "elderly" - just older. My mother was 99 when she died; she was "elderly". More countries have a minimum age than maximum. I know Nigeria did have a maximum of 70 but I don't know if that still holds true.

Most democracies don’t set upper limits. Their key reasons seem to be:
Voter choice - democracies tend to leave it to voters to decide if someone is “too old”
Anti-discrimination norms - age-based exclusion can be seen as unfair
Experience value - older candidates may bring long political or diplomatic experience

Concerns about health, cognitive sharpness, and generational perspective are usually covered although this can be abused if the leader, themselves, is undemocratic.

Democracy allows us to choose. Sometimes the majority ends up regretting that choice.

As far as I know, Rishi Sunak did not preside over out of control assisted dying or try and lock people out of their bank accounts for not wishing to have the Covid vaccine. Not in the same league as Trudeau and Arden imo.

And not going to war is often a terrible thing to do.

TerriBull

Yes agree FGT and also the relatively youthful Justin Trudeau.

And of course, Rishi Sunak?

A few people have suggested that we should have more women in charge. I would only say the last war this country had was the Falklands war and and Margret Thatcher was running the country. Female and only 53 when she became PM. It is the character and capabilities of the person that matters not their gender or age.

I agree M0nica, female leaders do not seem any less prone to warmongering or playing ‘tough’ than their male counterparts.

Yes agree FGT and also the relatively youthful Justin Trudeau.

And presumably lots of people didn't like Thatcher.

We had a succession of 'young' leaders, Blair, Cameron, Truss, Sunak, They are hardly a recommendation for youth leading the country. Mind you Johnson, May, Starmer and Brown are no recommendation for older PM's . On the other hand, Churchill, Roosevelt. Lloyd-George led us to victory in wartime. All old, ill or drunks.

Golda Meir, Mrs Banderanaike, Mrs Thatcher, Sheika Hasseina do not suggest women leaders are any different to men.

All voters get a chance to decide who will make the best leader when they vote.

I keep uoting the saying of H L Mencken, but for the USA it is the only possible explanation for the current and immediately past President

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron

And there we have it. Biden, now Trump are the results of the perfection of democracy. Depressing isn't it?

Still at least the Hungarians are defying democracy by throwing out the old and welcoming the new.

And yet Jacinda Arden was rubbish so 🤷‍♀️

Sarnia

To lead a country you need a certain level of experience of the world and that comes with age. Elderly is 75 and over and in my view too old to be running a country.
I would far rather see more women in charge. I don't think we would have anything like the wars and conflicts we have at the moment if more women were at the helm.

I agree on both counts.
I think physically the job of a world leader is also tough, with long hours and frequent overseas travel too, so although some people are mentally capable of doing the role beyond 75, physically they aren’t.

I tend to agree that age is a factor, Reagan probs had Alzheimers towards the end of his term as President and Biden was quite frail and didn’t seem entirely ‘with it’. And as for Trump, well he might have been a nightmare President 30 years ago but I do think there are signs of dementia probs exploited by Vance and other far right cronies to rule by proxy.

If we take that into account presumably we have to look at the other end of the scale, there is research which seems to indicate that young people's brains arent fully developed in terms of decision making until 25, I am not aware of any particularly young leaders but certainly young people take positions of considerable responsibility - MPs, etc.

I think the normal rules should apply ( hollow laughter).

Politicians should retire at retirement age.

MaizieD . I respect and understand your view. However............. whether we like to acknowledge this fact or not, none of us are as sharp as we think we are when when we reach late 70s . Me included ! There are exceptions of course but they are very much in the minority.

Dementia most certainly comes to mind Maremia!

To lead a country you need a certain level of experience of the world and that comes with age. Elderly is 75 and over and in my view too old to be running a country.
I would far rather see more women in charge. I don't think we would have anything like the wars and conflicts we have at the moment if more women were at the helm.

I wasn’t trying to change the subject, more to broaden it. Concerns about individual leaders are valid, but I think it’s also worth looking at the systems that put them in power and how those might be improved.

I’m not really sure that age is necessarily a handicap. So long as a person retains their mental capacity they can still be good at their ‘job’ when they age. I’m thinking of a couple of men, Warren Buffet, one of the world's most successful investors, and Rupert Murdoch, running a media empire, who were still going strong in their 80s and early 90s. Not that I have any time for either of them, but their ability in old age can’t be denied.

Fair point maizie.
I do find it interesting that often concerns about age and sex come about only at certain times, e.g when it a leader that people don't like. It also makes it very difficult for the opposing side to complain about age etc.

Galaxy

Biden was over 80 and Reagan was in his late seventies in their term of office, presumably they were a failure of democracy too.

I don’t think DAR was equating the appointment of old men to a leadership role with a failure of democracy. Though she is trying to completely change the subject…p

Biden was over 80 and Reagan was in his late seventies in their term of office, presumably they were a failure of democracy too.

I get why you’re frustrated. Decisions about war made by leaders far from the front lines can feel deeply unfair, especially when younger people bear the consequences. But framing it in terms of age or gender risks oversimplifying the issue.

Leaders like Donald Trump or Benjamin Netanyahu aren’t in power because of their age, they’re there because of political systems, voter choices, and party dynamics. History has shown both effective and ineffective leaders across all age groups.

Rather than focusing on whether someone is ‘too old’ or male, it might be more useful to ask: Are they fit to lead? Are they making responsible decisions? Are there proper checks and balances in place?

Experience can be valuable in leadership, just as fresh perspectives can be. The real issue is ensuring leaders, of any age or gender, are accountable, capable, and acting in the public interest. I wonder if the OP's should be aiming their attack on the failures of democracy - and how it can be improved- rather than be triggered by the age and sex.

I don't think a person, male or female, with obvious symptoms of dementia should be allowed to rule without challenge.