Thanks to Golden Age of Gaia.
Norwegian Prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, right, drives a taxi in Oslo Photo: EPA
Stephen Cook: How do our leaders get to truly understand and hear first-hand what the people want? They step out – or, in this case, drive out – among them. Campaign stunt or not, it’s a possible trendsetter.
By Rob Crilly, The telegraph, UK – August 11, 2013
Usually it is the driver who gets to boast about the customers in his taxi.
But for one afternoon in Oslo it was the passengers who were able to say, “You’ll never guess who I had in the front of my cab,” after realising they were being driven by the Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg.
He worked incognito, wearing a standard uniform and dark glasses, in an effort to hear voters’ true views.
The conversations – and the passengers’ reactions on realising the true identity of the driver – were captured on a hidden camera. The footage has been posted on the prime minister’s Facebook page and will be used as part of Mr Stoltenberg’s re-election campaign next month.
Most passengers cottoned on to his identity pretty fast, gazing in disbelief for a few seconds before leaning forward to take a better look.
“From this angle you really look like Stoltenberg,” said one.
An elderly woman said she was lucky to have come across the prime minister as she was just about to write him a letter, before launching into criticism of corporate fat cats.
A student discussed education policy and another raised environmental issues.
Mr Stoltenberg said there was nowhere better to learn about what mattered to voters.
“It is important for me to hear what people really think,” he told Norwegian media.
“And if there is one place people really say what they think about most things, it’s in the taxi.”
It did not all go smoothly, however.
He admitted to not having driven for eight years and at one point brought the automatic car to a sudden lurching halt, mistaking the brake pedal for the clutch.
“This driving is not exactly the best I’ve seen,” said the startled passenger.
Mr Stoltenberg’s Labour Party is behind in the opinion polls but he said he would not be taking up driving for a living if he lost.
Openhearted Rebellion 