Vote channel

CRN's senior reporter, Sam Trendall, salutes the political ambitions of an array of industry figures

Reading the answers in this year's CRN A-List (always an enlightening endeavour), I was impressed - and not one bit surprised - with how many of the channel would love to be (even more) powerful.

One of the questions asks: i f you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be and what would you do?

Bearing in mind that everyone on the list is a business owner or a high-level exec, you might expect the answers to be dominated by fun and frivolity. Sure enough, there are three aspiring Formula One drivers, two wannabe Hugh Hefners, and others who fancy being the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Eric Clapton, Salma Hayek's husband and Mr Gilbert from The Inbetweeners, to name but a few.

But there are no less than 10 channel figures who'd like a crack at being prime minister (about 10 per cent of all respondents). There are also mentions for Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband, George Osborne and government procurement head John Collington.

Three industry execs would like to be Alan Sugar for a week and the same amount harbour ambitions of filling both Richard Branson and Simon Cowell's shoes. Perhaps more worryingly, one respondent revealed a hankering to be Kim Jong-il.

As a serial employee (and a pretty happy one at that), I find the desire to swap one set of responsibilities and headaches for another both mystifying and deeply admirable. A willingness to take risks, and to invest vast amounts of time and money, typifies the channel.

And it is this kind of entrepreneurial spirit - across all walks of industries - that is the lifeblood of local, regional and national economies. Long may it continue.