Iain Duncan Smith, (former) leader of Britain’s
Conservative Party, was reportedly known as IDS by his friends. This led to worries that the average voter would not be able to relate to him.
Rumour has it, The Sun newspaper attempted temporarily to nick-name him "Smithy", to give him the image of a people's man.
A typical responce to surveys assessing his popularity when he was in power: "'who??' with a high rising pitch. Then 'Oh... No I didn't know.'"