Need to be lawyers? Vast numbers of politicians nowadays have done nothing but be a professional politician. Many were lobbyists, or in PR before politics. In t

Need to be lawyers? Vast numbers of politicians nowadays have done nothing but be a professional politician. Many were lobbyists, or in PR before politics. In the UK under 15% have done any law. Not sure about Australia. The key point is really only "Sell themselves to a wide and fickle audience of strangers" That's really the only skill our unicorn needs to stand for and win election. The policy or manifesto is set in party HQ outside of scientific or any other expert advice or specialist knowledge. In the hope it'll win votes. Then a series of staged interviews, sound bites and dog whistles seek to move the Overton window to their policy and preferred direction of travel. Nothing to do with competence, truth, Civil Service advice or the presence or otherwise of a PhD in the Ministry. Politicians get promoted and senior roles because of ability to control a debate, and their media friendly features and abilities. The better laws on the books often come from hard won experience, case law and Select Committee recommendations. Those tend not to be the laws of policy headlines, manifestos and high profile Ministry interviews. Hence we get ridiculous policies and political grandstanding on a whole range of topics. Climate change and Brexit being just two examples where fact and consensus are irrelevant.