Possible Clues:

• Down-to-earth
• Matter-of-fact British leader with a twitch accepts ridicule
• Make fun of Mother with a Pict around but not in theory
• Realistic
• Dealing with things practically rather than theoretically
• Not utopian
• Not flaky
• Seems there's a scrappy mother in the Pict, but not according to theory
• Sensible MP with a tragic undoing
• Practical article owned by sacked tragic MP