They are called vox pops – that bit on the news where TV journalists ask a random member of the public in the street for a snap opinion on the topic of the day – and they are very popular during election campaigns.
As a reporter I used to love doing them, and I can only apologise if in years gone by you were quietly going about your shopping somewhere in Manchester only to find me pointing a microphone into your face and asking you about a big news story.
Brenda from Bristol struck a chord with the country when she was pressed for her views on the 2017 election: “You’re joking – not another one”, she said before declaring that there “is too much politics at the moment”.
What you hear more and more in vox pops is people of all ages and from right across the UK telling the media that “politicians are all the same”, or that “they’re all as bad as each other”.
So here’s something as a journalist who interviews politicians for a living on Newsnight you might not expect me to write: I think the people who say that are wrong. Of course, they are perfectly entitled to say that, it’s just that in this case, my experiences run counter to that.
Now I don’t know any MPs well enough to call them friends. I don’t mix in their circles. But I have met and interviewed hundreds of them over the years. Some of the more robust encounters are on YouTube and TikTok and I’ll admit that occasionally I have raised an eyebrow at some of the evasive answers I’ve received.
But are they really “all the same”?
Years ago when I was presenting on BBC Radio 5 Live I became a little emotional on air and listeners picked up on it. My next interview was Lord Blunkett (he was plain David Blunkett then, the home secretary). A few days later, I received a handwritten letter from him checking I was ok and praising me for keeping it together. There was no publicity in that for him, he was just being a kind human being.
When I decided to share the news that I’d been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, I received private messages of goodwill from MPs from all corners of the political landscape.
I host a podcast series for anyone who’s been touched by the disease, called And Then Came Breast Cancer. Tracy Crouch, the former Conservative minister of sport, shared her story with the listeners in a compelling and powerful way.
Of course I can hear the cynics say they’re being nice with me so I’ll go easy on them when I next interview them. But, can you think of an example where I’ve “gone easy” on a politician?
Last month I attended the funeral of Lord Field of Birkenhead, better known to his former constituents as Frank Field, Labour MP. I didn’t know him as a friend but had interviewed and probably crossed swords with him on occasion, and when his cancer diagnosis became public two years or so ago, we would exchange emails about how he was doing. When I took my seat at the service at the Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Street, London, I was alongside fellow mourners from across the media and political spectrum, including ex-Conservative prime minster Theresa May.
His life and work had clearly touched many. All of us were saying goodbye to a decent man who just happened to be a politician.
Election time sees campaigners and candidates out among the people. As we saw with Nigel Farage, it means they can be vulnerable to milkshake attacks – in previous campaigns, eggs were a favoured “weapon”.
Some may find such things amusing, others will see them as frightening. I wouldn’t want the prospect of being assaulted regarded as some kind of built-in risk for doing my job, and neither should they.
So describing politicians as all the same, can in turn without too many leaps, lead to the sort of hatred that forces MPs to provide security at their constituency surgeries.
The tragic loss of Jo Cox and David Amess was devastating not only for their families and loved ones, or for politics, but for the country.
Therefore can I make an appeal for a little tolerance? It’s mildly irritating when I see all that all members of one profession – say social workers, or bus drivers or even journalists are generally dismissed as worthless, so shall we stop doing it with politicians?
Victoria Derbyshire is a journalist, broadcaster and host of BBC Newsnight and Ukrainecast