What do ex MPs do?

[callherwillow]

I know someone on here will know!

[RortyCrankle]

Sell their soul to the highest bidder, unless you're war criminal Blair of course, who had no soul to begin with.

I think some are invited to join the boards of companies, some set themselves up as consultants, join the gravy train otherwise known as the EU, House of Lords etc. I doubt many return to what we would call a normal job.

[Florin]

They do after dinner speeches at corporate dinners for a very large fee.

[LunaLoveg00d]

Our local MP lost her seat in the last election to the SNP. She has a young family and is still working in the same sort of area as she was as a MP. She has a consultancy business helping companies with equality legislation, and speaks at events and conferences.

She's not selling her soul to anyone, and would imagine that if the opportunity arose, she'd stand again for another parliamentary seat.

[Wigeon]

Well, there are about 650 MPs, some of whom will lose their jobs at the next general election, and they go on to all sorts of different things, just like other people who leave jobs go on to different things! There isn't one set path, although there are a few common things.

[Wigeon]

This is an interesting article which gives a few facts about it.

I think the issue is that only the ones who do something newsworthy get in the news about their new jobs (e.g. earning lots of money on the lecture circuit, doing something which sounds like a conflict of interests, although there are rules governing that), so you don't hear about the majority. Eg Steve Webb was pensions minister and now works as director of policy and external comms for a financial services company.