To think no politicians care at all

People go on about MPs being overpaid but the truth is most could earn more if they chose to, so at the very least they have made a financial sacrifice to do it. I suppose you could argue they're in it for the power trip, but I think most do care but obviously have their own definition of what "caring" means.

My MP works pretty hard I think. I've met several local MPs over the years and I think they do and did care. When Labour lost the election in 1979 Merlyn Rees was my MP. He still travelled from London to Leeds the next morning to do his constituency surgery. After I met him and asked for his help I ran across him 3 years later at a work event. He remembered me and made a point of speaking to me and asking if I was doing OK. I remember him with a lot of fondness.

@romdowa but how on earth do you know if they care or not? Have you ever really spent time with your MP?

It is a fact that most MPs take a pay cut when they enter parliament. Their salaries sound high but are very often less than they could earn in the jobs they are qualified for and experienced in.

Today it was with a heavy heart that I.went to vote. No one party stood out for me as the party who were in tune with issues I was most concerned about. I could not bring myself not to vote, but I did so very reluctantly

They care alright , about their wages and future prospects. Beyond that I don't think many of them genuinely care

I used to think this until DS started a job as a case worker for an MP. He works incredibly hard for his constituents, 12 hour days and 7 days a week. And according to the networks of other MPs support staff DS is in, this isn’t unusual. Yes, they have support teams but just because their workload is incredibly high and has increased massively since social services have been decimated.
Just because some MPs aren’t projecting their personalities in Parliament or social media doesn’t mean they don’t care. They are paid a fraction of the salary they would get in the jobs they could be doing given the qualifications and experience many of them have. Spend some time with your MP, leafletting or going to meetings. You will see what they do. Cynicism is really undermining our democracy.

He may have also suffered Sky TV deprivation as a child of course which means he will know what sacrifice feels like. 😉

agreed about Keir - considering his career it would be pretty difficult to not develop empathy. I don't agree with him 100% but he's not out of touch like other recents have been.

I think most do at least start out caring. I think it's a bit of a cliche that they're just in it for themselves, but the 'professionalisation' of being an MP (ie, do an Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree, become a Special Advisor to an MP, become an MP pipeline) hasn't helped because you get people with no life experience outside politics who are more likely to be yes men/women and just have a career plan mapped out rather than caring about constituents.

Our candidate where we used to live was amazing. If Labour get in then I’m hoping that she will get a chance at senior roles because she was bloody brilliant. Fearless, hard working, compassionate, intelligent and worked so hard. I’d love her to be PM.

I think there are a few in the main parties who are genuine and really care but I think it’s such a tough job with so much backlash that it attracts psychopaths.

I do think Kier genuinely cares about people though.

YABU - there are many politicians and not every single one is uncaring.

There are many who do, you just don't hear as much about them cause they're not causing issues. I do agree that in recent years it's been very blatant the lack of caring from a large amount of them though.

Daily lives will definitely be effected, not overnight and not a total u-turn but there will be baby steps in the right direction.

I used to, until I had a good discussion with our local Labour candidate (the only one who responded to my questions, and he did so with astonishing detail and honesty).

He genuinely seems to care, both about the country and the local area, and he even changed his mind on a couple of things while we were exchanging emails.

I realise that sort of thing's pretty rare, though - at least, it has been in the last 14 years or so. I wonder if one result of the last decade and a half might actually be the opposition parties actually attracting people who genuinely do give a damn?