The falling stars of the political stage

Something's changed in the tough world of politics, and not just in Greece. Up until approximately a decade ago, few if any European politicians who had risen high through the ranks ever believed they might need to get a regular job someday. Politics was a closed system that ensured a degree of protection and relative permanence. No one could image Francois Mitterrand, Helmut Kohl, Andreas Papandreou or Konstantinos Karamanlis leaving politics and looking for a job in the private sector. They had endurance and a status that was not affected by whether they won or lost an election.

Look now! Where to even begin? Boris Johnson, a prime minister elected with a comfortable majority, is out mainly for financial reasons. A series of political "rock stars" that were revered on TikTok and social media ended up unable to stand the pressure of politics. Austria's Sebastian Kurz was...