Henry Laurens Quotes

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

It is a tenet of representative democracy that MPs are not delegates for their constituents. This means that their decisions and actions are ultimately governed by putting the best interests of all their constituency before all else.

As representatives, we are accountable first not to our party, not to our leadership, not to the chief executive, but just to our constituents.

You ought to serve on the platform you run on.

I have been in public office and have been criticized. I do not object to it. A public official should be willing to be criticized. An agent of the people of this country should be called to account.

That's what representative democracy is about, is members going to Washington but coming home and answering the tough questions.

Any of us who wants to go to Parliament must have that responsibility to represent the people who voted us in.

We were all elected to try to improve the lives of our constituents.

Aren't we supposed to believe that if you are an elected official, if you serve in Congress, you are representing all the people of your district not just the people who voted for you, not [just] the people who you agree with?

It is only when there is the supervision and critical oversight from the people that the government will be in a position to do an even better job, and employees of government departments will be the true public servants of the people.

I always tried to do what I believed is right and I've always voted the way that I believe was the right way for my constituency, and that's what I'm doing when I govern.

Good government is the outcome of private virtue.

The American public should simply accept no distractions. In our democracy, it is our duty to hold our elected leaders accountable. We do it at the ballot box.

I have never tried to fiddle my role as leader of the city of Sheffield, as an MP or as a minister.

Senators will do what they think they need to do to represent their constituents.

We need more of the Office Desk and less of the Show Window in politics. Let men in office substitute the midnight oil for the limelight.

There is a tendency by a lot of officials to hide behind the king. And it's about time that officials take their responsibility and are responsible in front of the people.

Is it not natural that a man who is a candidate for the favor of the people, and who is dependant on the suffrages of his fellow-citizens for the continuation of his public honors, should take care to inform himself of their dispositions and inclinations…? This dependant [creates] strong chords of sympathy between the Representative and the constituent.

The Administration of Government, is nothing else but the Attendance of the Trustees of the People upon the Interest and Affairs of the People

We elect these people not to represent their parties but to represent us.

I'm one of these guys who believes you represent the people who sent you to Washington, D.C., not matter what the cost. The cost could be very grave.

I won't criticise anyone else's statements, and the public will make up their own minds. And if the public think that any side or any individual has strayed too far away from what's expected of public representatives, then they'll make that judgement.

I think Alaskans expect me to think, to think about them and do the right thing for them.

I do believe that the majority of elected officials worked very hard and their heart is in the right place.

There's a truth about public service that is often unspoken and rarely understood - that the role of our elected officials is about much more than balancing budgets and ensuring the delivery of essential services.