What does an MP look like?

Just back from Middle Street School in Brighton where Year Six had a great time with Trevor Phillips from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
They'd been asked to draw a picture of what an MP looks like, and describe their idea of a politician's lifestyle.
OK, you might expect the talk of big cars and smart clothes.
And virtually none of the boys thought the MP would be a woman.
But it was striking how many thought an MP would be unhappy, and strange.
Olivia said her MP was rich, single and lonely - extremely strange and quite depressed.
It looks like there's a red plane on standby behind her in the picture, so I asked Olivia to explain why she thought an MP would be so sad.
"She would be quite a clever person," she said, "and at work she gets a chance to think and be on her own, but she knows that no-one really likes her."
Out of the mouths of babes...

Welcome to the hustings! I'm Peter Henley, the BBC's political reporter in the south of England. From parish councils in Sussex, to European politics in Oxford, this is the blog for you.
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