What Have X-Factor Judge Simon Cowell and Henry VIII got in Common?

They have both been named as inspirational leaders in a poll by the Prince’s Trust. I do find them to be slightly strange choices............ while the X-Factor is (in the opinion of the HR Headmistress) the equivalent of throwing modern day Christians to the lions, Henry VIII was really not a nice man to know , with a marked tendency to wife-murdering. At least Cowell is only sarcastic and makes the odd contestant cry. Inspirational? Hmmmmm.

Seven leading youth organizations joined forces to launch the campaign, led by The Prince’s Trust, including the British Youth Council, Changemakers, Citizenship Foundation, National Youth Agency, Young Foundation and the UK Youth Parliament.

In the survey, which canvassed the opinions of more than 1000 young people, the results suggested that most participants viewed civil rights leader Martin Luther King as the greatest leader, followed by US President Barack Obama and former South African President Nelson Mandela (This is a bit more logical...).

The top ten also included England footballer John Terry, actress Joanna Lumley and businessman Alan Sugar. Simon Cowell won the same percentage of the vote as Mother Teresa, while Moses came equal fifth with Microsoft’s Bill Gates.

The survey was published to mark  a new Government-backed campaign, Youth of Today, aimed at creating a generation of inspirational young leaders. The campaign aims to encourage hundreds of young people to become leaders from sports coaches to public speakers.

70% of the teenagers who responded to the survey said they were more likely to be inspired by someone they knew than by a celebrity.

Two in three believed there were more celebrities setting a bad example than a good one today.

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