The human side of politics

Like any child's death, the death of Ivan Cameron this week must have hit his family hard, but Ivan's death has also affected politics in a very poignant fashion.

Often Gordon Brown and David Cameron are spitting venom at each other over the dispatch box, but this week we witnessed a bond between the two men. Both leaders have now lost a child and so the passing of Ivan affected politics at the very highest level.

Cameron understandably missed Prime Minister's questions on Wednesday, but as an act of respect PMQs were cancelled all together and replaced by messages of condolence. These came from William Hague, Vince Cable (standing in for Nick Clegg) and of course the Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Too often politicians are portrayed as faceless figures to which blame can be ascribed to, but here we saw a very emotional and human side to politics. All politicians' views will have been shaped by their life experiences, and David Cameron is no different.

I'm sure that Cameron would be the first to admit that he had a charmed upbringing, but looking after a disabled child must have shaped his outlook on life and indeed politics. For instance his commitment to the NHS may well have been shaped by his son's dependence on the institution and the amount of time that his family will have spent in Hospitals.

It is remarkable that the death of a six year old boy has had such a seismic effect on the British public, particularly against the current econmonic backdrop, but this was such a tragic event that for once people felt sorry for a politician. This is a very rare event.

Politicians are often seen as mercenary figures obsessed by power, but here is a man whose family clearly comes first. No-one is trying to say that David Cameron is perfect, indeed he is clearly not, but this week people were able to identify with him much more than they were able to before. Indeed the same could be said for Gordon Brown who came out of this week with tremendous dignity.

What happened this week served to highlight the mutual respect that politicians have for each other, but also the human side of politics. Sometimes things need to looked at from a different perspective and the tragic death of Ivan Cameron was not in vain. His short life had an enormous effect on the man who is likely to be Britain's next Prime Minister, but Ivan has also captured the nations hearts in a way that no politician ever could.