WELCOME to the political salon of the future: the hairdressing salon. A leading think tank is suggesting hairdressers should be drafted in to help shape local government policy because they are at the cutting edge of their communities.

Specially trained crimpers could also dispense advice to clients on how to make the most of public services such as hospitals, schools and local councils, claim researchers at Demos, which has close links to Labour.

Though it might sound improbable, some observers believe the proposal could offer a cheaper, more effective alternative to the armies of outreach co-ordinators and community workers currently paid for by the taxpayer.

Nicky Clarke, the Mayfair-based stylist who counts George Michael, Jemima Khan, Elizabeth Hurley and the Duchess of York among his clients, said: “It does sound odd but thinking about it, hairdressers probably do have their finger on the pulse more than any other profession.”

“Our research has led us to conclude that hairdressers are the most authentic voice on the high street,” said the Demos document, “and they should be given a formal role in urban policy making.

“Politicians should use the 99,000 hairdressers in the UK to assist in decision making relating to urban policy, town centre regeneration and the delivery of local services.”

Researchers reached their conclusions while working on Glasgow 2020, a year-long project supported by Glasgow city council and the Scottish executive, which is intended to discover what the city will be like in 2020.

Alongside meetings of council chiefs, policemen, asylum seekers and students, Demos is holding a series of events to canvass the opinions of hairdressers and has organised a “stylists’ summit” this month in Glasgow.

A Demos spokesman said that hairdressers were identified as having “high social engagement” and privy to a uniquely high number of intimate and lengthy conversations through their work, which made them an ideal link between policy makers and the public.

Gerry Hassan, co-leader of the Demos project, said: “There’s an intimacy that goes on in conversations with hairdressers . . . People talk to them about their jobs, their family and their relationships.”

He claimed hairdressers are especially sensitive to the “feel” of a city. “Whether to send their children to private schools, whether their husband is having an affair, all the moral issues under the sun are covered under the dryer,” he said.

Ray Seymour, general secretary of the National Hairdresser’s Federation, said: “Most hairdressers have been to the university of life and are intuitive at dealing with people.”

Asked to pick subjects hairdressers would be good at advising public officials about, Seymour said: “Family issues, from things like problems with children and lack of youth facilities, to an outbreak of head lice.

“And some social issues — I’ve heard our members talk about young women trying to jump the council housing list by getting pregnant.”

Errol Douglas, a London stylist, said he had detected strong opposition among his clients to the abolition of the capital’s Routemaster buses.

Michael Cimino, artistic director of Michaeljohn, a hair and beauty company, said the Demos proposals did not go far enough. He suggested a “hairdressers’ ambassador” with the power to go above councils’ heads and tip-off Whitehall about the latest developments in public opinion.

However. Ann Widdecombe, the Tory MP who famously re-invented herself as a blonde, said: “It all sounds daft to me, but there’s an over-obsession with trying to find Mr Average when there’s no such thing.”

Many hairdressers share Widdecombe’s concerns and are cautious about the prospect of advising the public. They emphasised the need for proper training or having a limited role, such as handing out helpline numbers.

In America, government programmes have trained hairdressers to spot signs of domestic abuse in clients and refer them to the police or advice lines.

Liz Crockett, a spokesman for a scheme in Syracuse, New York state, said: “In barber shops we’re distributing information about prostate cancer screening and information about breast cancer screening in beauty parlours.”

However, should hairdressers be called in to bail out local officials, as Demos suggests, none is likely to match the influence wielded by Paul Allen, coiffeur to Baroness Thatcher.

He confessed he once complained to her about the trendy teaching his daughters were receiving at a state school.

Lord Baker, the former education secretary, conceded Allen was influential. “On the curriculum (Thatcher) did have views, which as far as I could see came from her hairdresser,” he said.

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