Labour Party members feel they are peering in through the window at the Government at work, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn has said.
"That is not healthy," he told the Parliamentary Monitor in an interview.
Mr Benn, a candidate for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party, continued: "Labour politics is best when both the public and the party see Labour working alongside them to deal with the problems of the age."
He also believed that people had been put off by perceptions of spin.
"I think people are yearning for a kind of direct, straightforward politics, and that requires straightforwardness from us and straightforwardness from the public as well.
"The worst kind of politics is when politicians appear to be remote, declaring from on high, and telling everybody else what to do."
Mr Benn said he hoped and believed that Gordon Brown would be the next leader.
"The country and the party owe him a great deal."
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