It has become a near daily occurrence for candidates from all the political parties who are standing in the general election in May, or those around them, to be embroiled in controversy relating to expenses, donations, inappropriate comments and so forth. Whether things are getting worse or whether social media helps to root out problems more easily is not clear. What is clear is that every time a headline breaks it damages all parties equally and not just the one involved. This is because the biggest issue out there is a loss of voter respect for those who govern or seek to govern them. We may be underestimating the ultimate cost of this to the effective governance of the country.