Public’s distaste of spin should come with a pinch of salt

Gordon Brown's current predicament reminded me of a survey published a few years back which showed that most men preferred women with a "natural look" to those who wore lots of make-up. Most women laughed sardonically at this news, wondering if these same men knew how much work often went into creating the illusion of effortless beauty. Politicians are sadly judged in the same way. For all our insistence that we want substance, not spin, image trumps fact time and again.

Latest column in The Herald (published 27 May)