TV killed the political star

PA 27/2010 The spectre of the MPs' expenses scandal will be raised yet again with a new TV comedy/drama on BBC4, but the damage to British politics was done before the scandal, caused partially by the portrayal of politicians in television fiction, according to an expert from The University of Nottingham. The spectre of the MPs' expenses scandal will be raised yet again with a new TV comedy/drama on BBC4, but the damage to British politics was done before the scandal, caused partially by the portrayal of politicians in television fiction, according to an expert from The University of Nottingham. On Expenses was written by Tony Saint, who featured in a special conference on fiction and British politics, organised by the Centre for British Politics (CBP) at the University. CBP Director Professor Steven Fielding, will be watching the programme with interest. An expert on the perception of British politics in the media, he is currently working on a Radio 4 documentary on fiction and the representation of Tony Blair and New Labour. He believes British politicians were in a poor state before the expenses row erupted: "The MPs' expenses 'scandal' of 2009 created an unprecedented moral panic about the shortcomings of our political representatives. "However, while some MPs had clearly taken advantage of a flawed claims system, the public's reaction owed its origins to a wider mistrust of how we are governed.