Cllr - that's why I was very careful in qualifying what I said back there : I think it's safe to say that most people who make a living in politics at a high level - not all, most - do in fact end up as "selfish waste products".

I think heading up into the high spots in politics does seem to wash out the humanity from an awful lot of people who probably started up being fair enough people, or better. And I'm sure that a lot of the blame for that lies with the way we respond to them as members of the public - penalising the wrong things and rewarding the wrong things too.

And that applies irrespective of political affiliation.