To wonder why on earth you'd want to be a MP?

[OtraCosaMariposa]

Why does anyone - whatever their political persuasion - put themselves forward for this role? You have to be in London for extended periods, often leaving your family behind. The money is good but many of them could earn a lot more doing other stuff. You get death threats and abuse on a daily basis. When you're at your workplace and stand up to speak, you get boos and heckles from the people sitting opposite you. You have no job security.You have to read unpleasant stuff about yourself or hear people commenting about you, your party or the political system in general.

The whole thing seems to me to be a total nightmare and the most toxic working environment imaginable. No wonder so many of them are not standing for re-election.

OP yes full on campaigning for the next few weeks- but he’ll be at home so I’ll see him every day unlike normal time!

Most ex-MPs don’t earn millions like Clegg. Most go back to their old jobs I think. Unless they’ve been very senior.
In terms of dealing with the abuse- you have to get used to it. It’s tough when the kids get targeted, or picked on becuase of their dads job.

Obvs death threats get reported, but DH ignores most of it.
It’s much worse for the women.

The wage looks high but isn't good enough to offset the death threats/media intrusion or to attract talented people who can earn twice as much in another industry. Obviously we want our MPs to be in it for more than the money, but I think with social media etc these days it's difficult to tempt people into the job.

The money isn’t good. That’s part of the problem.

This has blown my mind. 75k is enough to support a family well in large parts of the country. I live in an incredibly expensive town in deepest Surrey and my DH and I combined income is considerably less than 75k and we have a good life. Yes it less than a head at a certain size school could earn. Its more than a class teacher earns. A class teacher is a suitable to be an MP.
I know 2 people standing - both of them it would represent an increase in salary. Both of them are doing it because they want a better country.

GeneticTest - thank you to your DH - whatever his politics. He is doing a job that has to be done and which impacts on his family more than most jobs. We need good MPs and good people to take on the job.

I have been active in local politics at times and it has been both good, (I made some situations better), and bad, (it took over my life at one point and the horrible way some people treated me damaged me long term). So - well done your DH - I appreciate it.

Also very few people walk straight out of one job into being a MP. From the background of the person I know standing for election she;s spent at least the last 5 to 10 years serving on local councils, being involved in her party at a local level, she was involved in campaigning at the Brexit referendum, working her way up through the party until she gets the chance at a parliamentary seat. I wouldn't think she'd get paid for any of that campaigning. So you've invested a huge amount both financially and personally before you have the chance of that salary.

There's a really good book by Isabel hardman of the spectator on this - it's not politically biased and covers all parties.

A lot of people get into the idea from university debating societies ( esp the oxford union) and carry on into being career politicians so spads and then MPs - they're more likely to be into the power and political games.

The people who've done something else first and have a burning desire to make things better are vital because they know about things other than politics but Westminster seems largely designed to chew them up and spit them out.

Good luck to your dh@GeneticTest. I recently wrote to my MP thanking her for standing given how horribly toxic politics is at the moment. I had a lovely letter back which was not expected.

Nobody's saying a MP's salary isn't decent money. But when you look at the hoops they have to jump through and the years of slog to get elected, then the abuse, death threats, travel and long hours once they're actually in the job, you have to ask if it's worth it. Or whether they could earn better elsewhere. And most probably could, especially if they've done other things before going into politics.

I'm very worried by the toxic environment and that a lot of good moderate and principled MPs are stepping down. I worry about that we will only have extremist MPs representing us.

But its public service not a career?
And wuite a few people have said you couldnt support a famiky on it.
Most public service roles are lower paid. Ask a nurse how often shes threatened in A&E.

Calculate the money as an hourly rate with double time for bank holidays, Sundays and evenings and one and a half times the hourly rate for basic overtime. Add in an "on call" or "standby" payment for all those hours that you have to be reachable by phone.

A teacher is not likely to be called in in August. Store manager will not be expected to spend six weeks campaigning for his/her job every few years - etc etc. £75k is not a lot. (If it were easy money we'd all be doing it)

Bear in mind that MPs have no security of employment. And the vast majority of backbenchers have neither the time or the opportunity to earn extra money.

A lot want to change the country. For some it's about power, some don't know what it entails.

My annoyance is when people become MPs never having a proper job and have very little real life experience.

The wage while people are saying it isn't good(I think it is), the expenses available to top it up are high. But if you are going into it for the money then you arent the person who should be doing it.

Actually I think nurses, firefighters and many other public service employees should be paid much better and generally treated better. But that is another battle to fight.

It’s only circa £75k.

For heaven's sake, this salary puts someone in the top ten percent of all earners in Britain.

If you seriously think it is not enough, then you shouldn't be anywhere near British politics because you demonstrate you categorically do not understand nor can comprehend the lives of 90 percent of the populace in the country - - half of whom earn under about £26k a year.

And as for the notion MPs are more highly educated, crikey, you'd need to be an established professor at a Russell Group to earn that kind of salary in academia.

I've never read such deluded nonsense as some of the statements on this thread about how £75k pa isn't a high salary.

Ffs.

“ But if you are going into it for the money then you arent the person who should be doing it.”

It only ever seems to be public servants people say this about!

“ I've never read such deluded nonsense as some of the statements on this thread about how £75k pa isn't a high salary. ”
It is a high salary. But it is an incredibly insecure job. There were new MPs at the last election who might well be unemployed by mid December.

Ask a nurse how often shes threatened in A&E.

And that's not right either. But when a nurse leaves work, he/she's anonymous. They don't have to cut their holidays short to get back to work. Other people working in the same hospital generally don't shout and scream at them while they're working. Their partner and children don't get death threats.

It's not the same thing at all.

The wage is not “poor”. Only on mumsnet where people seem to be on 6 figure salaries as a matter of course would that be deemed “poor”.

I don’t understand why the likes of JRM , BJ and the other privileged trust fund wankers do it. They don’t need the money and don’t care about people. Power and a career farting around doing next to fuck all once they “retire” and making a fortune for it would be my guess.

I'm not suggesting a reduction. I just feel 75k is a significant increase for the type of people i would like in parliament. I also dont suggest its easy. I wouldnt expect public service to be easy. I suppose if you want a parliament full of people who were going to earn more than 75k if were not for their dedication to society it make sense. Its just so different from my gradfathers labour politics of old.

The salary is more about the responsibility and the hours required to do the job, and the fact that when you look at similar positions in other areas, with similar levels of responsibility, they are paid more.

Anyway, I wouldn't put up with the abuse ans death threats for a million pounds a year.

“I'm not suggesting a reduction. I just feel 75k is a significant increase for the type of people i would like in parliament”
It depends. It’s a significant reduction for my current fantasy Labour leader, Kier Starmer. It’s probably about what I would expect my other fantasy Labour leader, Jess Philips to be earning outside Parliament, and she’d be home to her kids every night.

"It is a high salary. But it is an incredibly insecure job. There were new MPs at the last election who might well be unemployed by mid December."

Welcome to how a large number of the populus live working in insecure jobs.

I hear the benefits and expenses are rather good.

A friend's husband is standing at the next election. I know that not all would-be politicians are like him, but he's a good guy who genuinely wants to do something to make a difference. He's been in local politics for a while so he really cares about his community. I wouldn't call him arrogance; if anything, he's a little awkward. He and his wife aren't in denial about the fact that it's going to be a tough ride, but they're both (rightfully) angry about a lot of things and worried about their children's futures.