Scrap, there is nothing democratic whatsoever in winning elections by lying.
To some extent it is. Lying is necessary to also serve the interest of the poor. Democracy is based on the vote of the majority, so to serve any interest other than the majority, one must appeal to and lie to the middle class.
In which alternate universe do politicians lie to serve the interests of the poor? Unless you count having more people as serving the interests of the poor?
I do get what you are saying, but I don't think that happens any more. Politicians lie because they need to serve the interests of those who fund and support them and provide them with lucrative post-political careers, while pretending that they want to take care of the middle class and the poor.
That was one of the points that Monbiot was making, that propaganda has been so effective that people are voting against their own interests. Democracy would work better if people voted out of self interest rather than how a bunch of very wealthy and self-interested people managed to convince them to vote, using tactics like propaganda and dog-whistling and fear-mongering and various other forms of right-wing populism.