Open Road

Thursday Aug 13th 2009

More lefties in the Oval office than No. 10

Cack-handed. Scrammy-handed. Skiffle-handed. Spuddy- handed. Plain squiffy. Gibble fisted. Sinister. No, these are not ways to describe yet another PR disaster by Supreme Leader Brown. They are phrases used to describe lefties – left-handers that is. The second topic in an irregular series on things that may have an impact on politics but nobody has really bothered looking into.

According to Professor Chris McManus of University College London an above average number of high achievers are left-handed. He claims that left-handers’ brains are structured differently and in a way that widens their range of ability. In 2006, American researchers found that left-handed men are 15 percent richer than right-handed men who attended college, and 26 richer if they graduated. In addition, a disproportionate number of Nobel Prize winners are left handed. (For some reason this does not seem to apply to women.)

About 10 percent of the population is left-handed. There have been 12 US President’s since the World War II. However, a staggering 6 out of 12 post-war American Presidents have been left handed or ambidextrous. This is even more unusual considering the traditional biases against left-handed people. It is only in the post-war years that the practice of teachers forcing students to write with their right-hands has diminished. As a result, it is only the most recent crop of Presidents that could have benefited from being able to write with their chosen hands. Of the last 5 presidents 4 have been left handed. It is notable that Richard Nixon and George W. Bush were right handed Presidents.

So does this correlation between left-handedness and political success extend to the UK? The simple answer is no. The only left-handed post-war Prime Ministers have been Winston Churchill and James Callaghan. Why is this? Becoming US President is a different kettle of fish to emerging on top from the plague pit that is Westminster politics. The qualities of vision, charisma, critical thinking, good communications and leadership skills are necessary to become President. They help if someone wants to become Prime Minister but, as has been proved to varying degrees (Eden, Douglas-Home, Major), and is currently being demonstrated (Brown), it is not essential for reaching to top job. As the British system allows someone to become Prime Minister without facing a general election no doubt exacerbates the situation.

But a note of caution should be sounded for those who would like to see more left-handed Prime Ministers: a variant of the gene that is linked to left-handedness has been linked to psychotic mental illnesses.