Nearly everyone agrees that our MPs are not up to scratch. Two thirds of people believe that politicians are “merely out for themselves” and trust in politics is lower in the UK than in most OECD countries.
Recent scandals over second jobs, lobbying, and sexual misconduct have only damaged the reputation of MPs, with little sign of improvement in sight.
The path to improving the quality of our legislators is unclear. Some point to changing the conditions inside Westminster itself, while others look to the conditions of becoming an MP, and who chooses to apply for the job.
On 11th April, an upcoming Bylines Network event will attempt to provide some answers: How do we get better MPs? The event will gather together speakers including a past MP, a likely future MP, and others who have actively scrutinised potential and actual legislators.
The panel:
Speaking at the event, presenting four different viewpoints on how to get MPs, are the following speakers:
Cllr Tina Bhartwas, a Labour and Co-operative Councillor on Hertfordshire County Council having been elected as the youngest ever Councillor of that authority at the age of 19. Tina is on the Executive of the Young Fabians, youth section of the Fabian Society Think Tank, Feminist Co-ordinator for the Young European Socialists and 50:50 Parliament Ambassador.
“My principle idea revolves around gatekeeping, accessibility and support for diverse groups. As a young Asian woman in politics who is LGBT and has hidden disabilities I have faced many barriers owing to my characteristics and my lived experiences as a domestic abuse survivor, having been homeless during the pandemic and as a estranged young person. I have had a lack of support from places where I would have expected in when facing bullying and harassment. I have come to realise not only do some people not want to make politics more accessible but quite frankly even if they do they do not know how to go about it and so would rather shy away from the problem at hand.”
Tom Brake is the Director of Unlock Democracy which campaigns for a written constitution for the UK as well as Proportional Representation, House of Lords reform and devolution.
He is the former Lib Dem MP for Carshalton and Wallington and was Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and an assistant Whip in the Coalition Government.
“I don’t claim all MPs do a bad job. In fact, most MPs do a pretty good job. Most are committed public servants who want to improve the lives of their constituents and the country as a whole.
But MPs are a) not representative of the population as a whole and b) a small minority abuse the system in an attempt to benefit from it financially.
To address the former problem, we need to overhaul our voting system and replace First Past The Post with a proportional voting system. There is also a role for the political parties in selecting candidates from more varied backgrounds.
To tackle the latter problem, we need leaders who will lead by example. For instance by demonstrating their financial affairs are totally transparent and refusing to take up second jobs after they leave office. And if such leadership isn’t provided, we need tougher and enforceable regulation around second jobs, misleading Parliament, bullying and lobbying.”
Josiah Mortimer is the Chief Reporter for Byline Times, after joining this January. He was previously City Hall Editor at the Reach title MyLondon, covering the Mayor and GLA. While there, Josiah founded City Hall Journalists, the association for those covering devolved London politics.
“One of the big problems in our politics is that politicians are rarely held to their promises. We have a short memory – in part because of a warped media that fails to think long-term or look at problems systemically.
Increasingly we’ve also seen our local media hollowed out meaning that candidates – particularly incumbents – are able to break pledges, mislead and act with relative impunity.
We need a major boost to local journalism and a shift in how candidates are covered. Things are going in the wrong direction now – with BBC slashing local radio and Reach, the biggest local publisher, cutting hundreds of jobs.
Who is going to hold local candidates to their promises, who will dissect their policies, or wade through their potential conflicts of interests?
An independent but publicly funded institute for grassroots journalism could kickstart this effort and ensure there are reporters on the ground in every part of the UK able to scrutinise our candidates – and boost citizens’ engagement for the public good.”
Harpreet Uppal has been selected as Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Huddersfield. She was a councillor for her home ward in Huddersfield up until May 2022 and chaired the Kirklees Council Economy and Neighbourhood scrutiny panel.
“I want to start by saying I believe the vast majority of MPs are committed public servants. We may disagree on values and policies but most have entered politics to do the best for the people and communities they represent. However, as we have seen this week, a small minority abuse the system which taints all of us. ‘You’re all us bad as each other.’ Sadly, this is something we hear too often.
We need to make sure MPs, councillors, elected mayors are representative of the population as a whole and that people from all backgrounds feel they can access the political system and have a say in decision making. Politics should not be an exclusionary process. So, this means having proper political and civic education in schools. Opening up access to the political process and ensuring we do more to build on successful programmes like the Jo Cox leadership programme to increase representation.
We should look at how we can involve the public more in decision making processes like citizens assemblies. Making sure decisions are also made closer to where you live is also important, so I am an advocate on furthering devolution and house of lord’s reform.
Finally, we need tougher regulations on second jobs, which should be banned with limited exceptions and to tackle misconduct.”
The event:
The event will be held on Zoom, starting promptly at 6pm. Attendees can register to join on the event webpage, where they will receive a link to join the event.
Attendees will be asked to vote for their favourite idea at the start of the event and the event, both measuring the popularity of each initial idea along how the debate has shaped people’s views.
They will also be encouraged to ask speakers questions after their opening statement.
