Lies may let politicians seem ‘more human’

Politicians who embellish the facts may be pathetic and stupid but, in some eyes, it makes them seem more human, an expert in political communications has claimed.

Dr Margaret Scammell, senior fellow at the London School of Economics, spoke out after an admission by the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, that the claim that he once helped David Cameron to assemble an Ikea baby cabinet for the Prime Minister’s daughter Florence was “not entirely grounded in fact”.

He claimed at the time that the incident showed that the two politicians were “both young dads, with young children, who struggle with Ikea furniture.”

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This follows a claim by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, that he was present at the demolition of the Berlin Wall, which he wasn’t – and that he visited the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, which he did not.

David Cameron also appeared to be caught out when he said he had bought a pasty from a Leeds railway station shop which had been closed for years.

Before that, American First Lady Hillary Clinton, had to admit that she had “misspoken” when she claimed she had to dodge sniper bullets when she arrived in Bosnia in 1996.

In fact, nothing of the sort occurred.

Dr Scammell said: “Part of it is a sort of flawed human attempt to tell a good story. It can be seen as a bit pathetic, but to me it makes them seem more human. Who isn’t guilty of embellishment?”

But she said there was some stupidity involved in that politicians invariably get found out.

“These people are supposed to be so well drilled and slick, so why do they bother with this kind of nonsense?” she asked.