What ethical standards should we hold politicians to? A philosopher explains two different approaches

By Joshua Hobbs, Lecturer and Consultant in Applied Ethics, University of Leeds

With Boris Johnson’s departure, the drama of the Conservative leadership election, and Keir Starmer’s declaration that “integrity matters” in politics, the question of what ethical standards we ought to hold politicians to has never felt more pressing in the UK.

The idea that ethics has anything to do with politics is often (justifiably) met with some degree of scepticism. As philosopher Michael Walzer notes,…

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