Leadership Quote by David Blunkett

A politician insisting he is "too honest" is a neat bit of rhetorical aikido: it turns the very accusation that could damage him into a badge of authenticity. Blunkett frames honesty not as a baseline duty but as a defining personal brand, something he has "built" like a career asset. That verb matters. Reputation here is treated as infrastructure, and the line quietly acknowledges the modern political economy where credibility is both priceless and constantly under auction.

The second clause is the sleight of hand. "Sometimes" and "too" do a lot of work, softening the admission while keeping it flattering. He concedes fallibility, but only in a way that flatters the core claim. Being "too honest" suggests he has violated the tactical code of politics - the half-said, the carefully hedged - and paid for it. That positions him as a straight-talker who suffers for telling truths others would hide, a martyr narrative that plays well with voters exhausted by spin.

Context sharpens the subtext. Blunkett's career was repeatedly shadowed by controversies where judgment, relationships, and process were questioned. In that light, the line reads as pre-emptive reframing: if you are about to hear something awkward, treat it not as deceit or incompetence but as candor spilling over its proper boundaries. It's also an appeal to a particular British appetite for bluntness - the politician who seems a bit rough-edged, less coached, more "real". The risk is that it invites skepticism: "too honest" can sound like the classy way to say "careless", and voters are trained to notice when an apology is also an advertisement.