Daily Echo - 15 May 2008

Written by Sandra Gidley on Thu 15th May 2008

Some bright spark once remarked that "Politics is show business for the ugly". I thought it was a flippant comment but am becoming increasingly concerned by the media obsession with the "personality" of politicians.

I am sure that most of us want someone who does an excellent job. There have always been some flamboyant characters who have provided an entertaining commentary on the Westminster Bubble but, to a large extent, politicians have been left to get on with the job - unless they mess up big time.

Am I the only person in the world who really doesn't give a monkey's whether Gordon Brown has a temper or whether he can occasionally be a bit grumpy? These personality traits do not really make him any better, or worse, at the basic job so why are these comments worthy of print?

Of course politicians like to show that they have a human side and Tony Blair was the supreme master of the managed photo opportunity. Where do we draw the line though? I enjoy reading political biographies but have noticed a change over the years - especially if a book is serialised in one of the national papers. I can't help but feel that a book is much less likely to be serialised if it contains an accurate and educated analysis of events and much more likely to reach the masses if there is some sort of salacious detail.

The comments made last weekend by Cherie Blair and John Prescott are a case in point. Who are they benefiting when they make such comments? Is it the Labour party or their own bank balance?

I also read Sîan Lloyds recent vitriolic words about my colleague Lembit Opik and they are a case in point. Who cares? Well, actually, I do but not in the way you might think. I am surrounded by hard working and dedicated people and it saddens me that their work is not better known. There is something wrong with a world in which one of the best known Lib Dems has attracted that attention because of his relationship with a "Cheeky girl". What do such things say about what we really value in our increasingly shallow society?