I'm Chief of Staff for a Member of Parliament - AMA

[Mytinhatison]

So, name change for this one obviously. I won't declare which party. It doesn't matter. I've been based in Westminster for years and have seen many come and go... Ask away

Thank you very much for doing this. I'm finding it really interesting

I grew up under the Thatcher goverment and just now I am reading Carol Thatcher's biography of Dennis Thatcher and I have also just read the biography of his friend Bill Deedes.

I'm find it extremely interesting to know that there are kind, normal people in the Downing Street environment and to read from them what it is like there. It makes me feel better from all the toxicity that we see on the news.

I just wondered - I know first hand how extremely hard things are in the schools and in the NHS. I see how difficult it is to combat climate change, and how they are trying to do something about immigration to stop people being taken in by Farage. There seem to be so many problems globally, that Mr Starmer is constantly too busy dealing with global issues to deal with the chaos at home.

Do you think there are just so many serious problems that the politicians are afraid to be honest with us about the degree of belt tightening that is actually needed to get the state services right again?

I start to feel that they are having to pretend there is a fix when there isn't one.

I sort of wonder if it will just keep being grim until the forces of economic nature and actual nature do something.

Do you think that is right?

It is just my opinion and not that of my MP but I worry we are at the tipping point. Everything everywhere seems broken. The uk is drowning under debt repayment. The NHS gets more money year on year yet struggles to improve.

Education is the same it has been for nearly a hundred years, with children sitting in rows listening. I know this is an over simplification.

I dont think there can be the improvement we really need without radical thinking, and I dont mean from the fringe parties with single policies.

I worry we are in a similar situation to the states. If an evangelical leader were to appear with the message "I am not like the others", I believe they would sweep the board. What is needed is long term thinking, not just how to win the next election.

I hope that social media will continue to hold politicians to account and give a louder voice to communities that deserve to be heard.

But all that said, the UK is still one of the very few countries where - for the most part - you are educated to a high standard for free, treated for illness for free and are given the opportunity to make whatever you want for yourself. We should all be grateful for that.

My MP on the other hand believes that the party they support will make everything better, but only for some 🤣

It's definitely not free for taxpayers.

IPSA revised job titles. Loads of ‘chief of staff’ and ‘head of office’ (someone who pays the gas bill kicking about since July 2024 intake took on their ~organisers~ staff.
yes, I’ve done this job for many years. I don’t recognise the drugs or affairs by the way. Maybe you work for a different party than I did though?

I don’t think you know hat the whip is. A one liner means you don’t have to be there to vote.
If theres a three liner you have 3 options.

1. you need permission from the whip’s office to either be slipped (which you can ask for to avoid embarrassing the party)
2. you follow the whip or
3. you break it and are punished by the party).

How long do you think it will be before Rachel and Starmer go?

I do understand this. Any whipped vote means you should follow the party line when and if voting. We were talking about free votes where there is no whip.

Thanks for your answer @Mytinhatison interesting thread

I really dont know. The problem labour have is Starmer has not gone out of his way to make nice with the new intake. Some of which are realising that being in power is not actually that easy in reality. There is a large cohort of back benches who realise they were elected on a protest vote and are unlikely to hold their seats. Because of this, they are less easy to whip and have been offered consessions to behave. The regular recess breaks mean that momentum is hard to maintain for the rebels but they will get there. People are starting to be more vocal about which horse they would back.

Ah I'm so glad I stumbled upon this.

I worked for an MP for 3 months in 2013. Upon reflection, he was definitely sleeping with one of his staff. I suspect I was hired as a decoy because I didn't do anything useful aside from opening letters.

I felt very jaded and burnt out and didn't get another job in Parliament after my stint there. I miss the cafeteria and walking around such a beautiful, historic landmark.

I would love to work there again. Do you have any job recommendations for someone who isn't very "peopley"?

W4mp job site. House of Lords or Library Researcher all the way 😁

Such a fascinating thread! What is the most difficult thing about your role?

Preparing reams of briefing that never gets read, and trying to get your MP to events because it is the right thing to do even though they have zero interest.

What happens to you if your MP loses in May 26?
Have been reading the Simon French articles in the Times on the economy. Very interesting stuff?

What is your take on the head economist at the OBR taking the fall for Labour? It is all so confusing to me. I thought the budget was meant to be at 12. Remember it distinctly seemingly delivered late. OBR independence is the most important. Do you think Labour are trying to compromise the OBR?

Nigel Farage is saying he will give the real experts a chance to stand. Do you think this might actually be an opportunity for those in the civil service and the whole political system to be reformed? Or is it just more bullshit from Farage?
Would it actually possibly be good if some people who actually know what they are doing get a proper say rather than these career politicians who everyone is fed up of across the spectrum?
Do you think some good people will actually hold their noses and join Reform? And if so, will they actually get to govern properly? It is all so confusing at the moment for us mere mortals to get a look in on what is going on.

I’ll put this as a general question as this is a discussion about parliament- are there any MPs who are competent to realise that regulating AI is the main job on the horizon? Way more important than basically anything else on the political agenda.

Chief of staff? Is that the same as secretary?

I dont hear it discussed much other than the benefits it can offer. I meet with someone very interesting last month who talked convincingly about the benefits of AI in the NHS.

I dont hear it discussed much other than the benefits it can offer. I meet with someone very interesting last month who talked convincingly about the benefits of AI in the NHS.

Glorified secretary if you dont mind 🤣🤣

Given what you said earlier about the debt repayment of the UK, the NHS struggling despite more money being thrown at it, and education largely being the same 'style' for the last 100 years, what do you think it would take to change that, and is there any / enough impetus from MP's to do whatever radical thing(s) it would take? Or are they all burying their heads in the sand and hoping to keep things ticking over until whoever gets to be PM next and they can deal with it?

AI it is oxymoronic.
( Bluffer’s Guide. Ronseal. Says it on the tin.)

Yeah, agree with this. I've worked in and around Parliament for years and most MPs I've met work crazy hours. Almost all could earn more money doing something else, and the job is incredibly unstable - you might just do it for 4 years and then be unemployed again. Plenty of egos in there for sure, but I think most are motivated by 'making a difference' (whether you agree with that difference will depend on your political perspective of course).