They don't make politicians like that any more

The BBC is running a cute "docudrama" called "The long road to Finchley" about the early political life of Margaret Thatcher. It's highly fictionalised -- Mrs T is portrayed as a coquettish charmer, rather than the semi-deranged virago she turned out to be when she was in office. What's more, there are lots of clever-clever foreshadowings in the script. For example, schoolboy Mark Thatcher to his mother, as they watch daddy Denis head off for Johannesburg: "can I go to Africa too? I promise not to get into trouble". So it's unlikely to become a set text at university, but I still felt there was an interesting lesson or two to be had.

Margaret Thatcher was a grocer's daughter who succeeded in getting into Oxford. After graduating she worked as an industrial chemist, then studied law in her spare time and practised at the Bar. Her great rival, Edward Heath, who also featured in the show, was the son of a builder. He also went to Oxford, fought with some distinction in the war and then worked in finance before entering politics. He was a professional-quality musician and once took time off from running the country to enter -- and win -- the Sydney-Hobart yacht race.

Both Thatcher and Heath were political obsessives, but they had talents that went beyond the spin and chicanery of modern Government. Contrast them with today's bunch. Gordon Brown is supposed to be massively intelligent, but there's no indication that he has any outside skills or interests whatsoever, unless you count Raith Rovers. What has David Cameron ever done outside politics, or Willam Hague or any of the rest of the Tory front bench? Sure, there are all sorts of professions represented in the House of Commons, especially lawyers and teachers, but for the most part these are just lobby fodder. The leadership jobs go to the professional politicians -- people who have not merely, in the old phrase, never had to meet a payroll: they've never even been on one.

This is not just a UK phenomenon. John McCain can point to a distinguished military record, but what have Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama ever done? Our politicians are less representative of the people they serve than ever, and it's not a good thing.