Indeed in the 1990s in Britain’s highly influential satirical magazine Private Eye, I wrote that Michael, then a well-known broadcaster on British television, had ambitions to be leader of the Liberal Party and Canadian prime minister.
Ignatieff was shown the article and laughed out loud with, “No, never.” (…)
What characterizes these leading potential contenders is their wealth and age. Both would be in their mid-60s if they ever became prime minister and both have never had to worry about their pensions, paying the mortgage or putting expensive meals on the table. It’s not that poverty is a prerequisite for government, more that elitism tends to dull the ability to empathize with the mass of ordinary people.
