'The blunt truth is that people increasingly see politics and Parliament as remote from their lives.'
William Hague's words to a packed House of Commons shortly after his 2001 General Election were not those of an embittered loser. Tony Blair had been re-elected Prime Minister with the lowest share of the eligible electorate for more than a century. Labour received fewer votes than any winning party since universal suffrage was introduced in 1928 and fewer than Neil Kinnock had received in the process of losing the 1992 general election.
