There is no novelty in observing that politicians are different from the rest of us. Former Foreign Secretary Lord Owen, in his much commented on analysis of their physical and mental health ‘In Sickness and in Power’, claimed that Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair (among others) showed signs of what he termed Hubris Syndrome – characterised by ‘unshakable self confidence, contempt for advice and inattention to detail’ – that warped their political judgement with consequences that are only too familiar.

By contrast Jim Callaghan and John Major, he felt, were immune and in an interview with this paper he denied being afflicted by the syndrome himself.

The issue was further explored in the British Medical Journal earlier this month, which questioned whether doctors have a duty to warn others if they believe a leader is ‘dangerously mentally ill.’