by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: October 06, 2008   Last Updated: February 25, 2010

Scandal has always been a part of political life; people who enter politics surely know that their life is going to be scrutinised to a greater extent than the average person's, and yet they seem unable to stop themselves from partaking in activities unbefitting of their position. Sex scandals may divert attention away from actual politics, but unless the politician in question is preaching about family values, a sex scandal is unlikely to have an impact on his social policies, which is clearly not the case when it comes to financial irregularities.

Whilst sexual peccadilloes may be, for a short while, embarrassing for the individuals concerned, there are unlikely to be any serious long-term implications for the political party which he (or she) represents or for the country. Obviously, if one sex scandal follows another it does undermine confidence in a political party, especially if it is the governing party. The Conservatives found this out in the 1990s with the high-profile resignations of David Mellor, Tim Smith and Sir Michael Hirst all helping to undermine John Major's 'Back to Basics' campaign, which was seen as somewhat of a moral crusade.

The Tory Party not only faced sex scandals in the 1990s, but also questions over the influence of high-profile businessmen over the Government during this time. Indeed, there was the Cash-for-Questions affair in which it was alleged that two Conservative MPs were bribed by Ian Greer on behalf of Mohammed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrods department store, to table parliamentary questions on his behalf. This was not the first time the Conservatives had had to deal with accusations of taking bribes, but they are not the only party to get involved in rather murky dealings. Labour also ran into problems when the Cash for Honours scandal threw some light on to the awarding of life peerages in order to obtain political donations. No charges were brought as a result of the investigation which was conducted, but questions were certainly raised about the funding of political parties.

Indeed, it seems that all parties want to be perceived as being the most morally upstanding in both their private lives and in their public lives; to be 'whiter than white'. It is a very easy for politicians to talk about being 'purer than pure' (as Tony Blair once had aspirations to be); the general public is hardly going to disagree, but most people are wise enough to see through what politicians say and what they do. The majority of people are less concerned with sexual peccadilloes, unless there is blatant hypocrisy, such as a homophobic, family man being found in a public toilet with a rent boy, than they are with ensuring that politicians are working for the best interests of the country as a whole, not just the wealthy.

Tabloid newspapers seem more interested in the sexual peccadilloes of politicians than policy, and consequently a lot of coverage is generally devoted to them when they are uncovered. Disreputable financial dealings also have a great deal of coverage, but they seem to be harder to expose than those involving sex, and may not sell as many newspapers! Because examples of corruption are exposed less often than sexual dalliances, when they are uncovered they are treated more seriously because corruption clearly is a more serious offence. Sexual peccadilloes only really affect the people concerned; financial chicanery has the power to reach a lot further.

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