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The Real Story: Can Politicians Ever be True to Themselves?

Factual

Can politicians ever be true to themselves?

21/08/2015 GMT

Can Politicians Ever be True to Themselves?

BBC World Service - The Real Story, Can Politicians Ever be True to Themselves?

Is disillusionment with machine politics so deep that only the blunt can win power?

Everyone says they want their politicians to be "authentic", but the idea that politicians are self serving and dishonest is now an all too common complaint. 

So-called insurgent parties in Europe are winning votes and even getting into power on the back of campaigns that reject centre-ground manoeuvring and instead offer a clear statement about their politicians' core beliefs.

On the left in the UK Labour Party leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn and on the right in the US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump both make their pitch on one message above all others: I tell is as I see it, the unvarnished truth, take it or leave it.

But in politics, is what you see really what you get? 

(Picture: Donald Trump at the Iowa State Fair, August 2015. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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