The Unearned Title: Why Politicians Are Not “Honourable”

December 16, 2025

Politicians routinely refer to themselves — and are formally addressed — as “The Honourable.” It is spoken in chambers, printed in official correspondence, and repeated by the media as if it were an earned distinction.

It is not.

At no point has the public, through vote, referendum, or consent, granted politicians the moral title of honourable. They assigned it to themselves.

Honour Is Not Self-Declared

Honour is not a job title. It is not conferred by office. It is not bestowed through tradition or ceremony.

Honour is earned only through conduct, specifically, through the consistent application of the same rules to oneself that are imposed on others.

By that standard, much of the modern political class fails the test.

A Separate Moral and Legal Class

Across Western democracies, politicians:

1. Exempt themselves from fiscal discipline while demanding restraint from citizens.
2. Design pension and benefit systems vastly superior to those available to the public.
3. Set ethical rules that carry weak enforcement and minimal personal consequences.
4. Control the rules of elections and finance in ways that entrench incumbency.
5. Avoid accountability for failures that would end careers in the private sector.

This is not honour. This is self-protection.

Titles Without Consent Are Pretensions

In a true democracy, legitimacy flows upward from the people to their representatives.

Yet the title “Honourable” flows in the opposite direction:

• It was not voted on
• It was not debated
• It was not earned
• It was simply assumed

A title taken without consent is not a recognition it is a presumption.

The Language of Authority vs. the Reality of Conduct

Words matter.

When politicians refer to themselves as honourable while:

• shielding themselves from the consequences of bad decisions,
• transferring risk to citizens,
• moralizing to the public while violating their own standards,

they erode trust not only in individuals, but in institutions themselves.

Cynicism is not born from disagreement, it is born from double standards.

The Only Legitimate Test

There is one simple test of honour in public life:

Would you willingly live under the laws, taxes, penalties, and standards you impose on everyone else?

If the answer is no, the title “Honourable” is undeserved, no matter how often it is spoken.

Where the idea actually comes from

The statement rests on foundational democratic principles, not on a signed mandate:

1. Elections grant authority, not virtue. Voters authorize someone to exercise power; they do not certify honour, wisdom, or moral superiority.
2. Authority is delegated, not surrendered. In a representative democracy, sovereignty remains with the people; politicians act as agents, not owners of power.
3. The “conditions” are philosophical and ethical. Thinkers such as John Locke, James Madison, and Montesquieu argued that government legitimacy depends on:

But crucially, these were assumptions, not enforceable guarantees.

What voters actually do grant

At the ballot box, voters grant only three things:

1. Temporary authority, Power limited by term length.
2. Conditional confidence Revocable through future elections, scandal, or public pressure.
3. Permission to act within the law Not permission to redefine morality, insulate themselves, or exempt themselves.

No voter ever checked a box saying:

“I declare this person honourable and morally superior.”

The central democratic flaw

Modern politics quietly inverts the relationship:

• Ethical expectations become optional
• Accountability becomes procedural
• Titles and privileges become self-assigned

The result is a political class that claims:

authority implies honour

When in fact, democracy assumes:

honour must restrain authority

Conclusion: Honour Is Conferred, Not Claimed

The public did not grant politicians the right to call themselves honourable. “Voters grant politicians temporary legal authority through elections; any expectation of trust, competence, or restraint arises not from consent, but from democratic principle and is far too often violated.”

Until politicians live by the same rules they impose, the title “Honourable” remains not a mark of integrity but a self-awarded badge of privilege.