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.

@onceandneveragain the vast majority don’t support their own family, they use state schools, NHS etc instead. If you are going to fully support a family with say two children £75k before tax will never be enough unless you are living a very modest lifestyle and homeschooling.

Not sure where anyone has mentioned this but there is also the danger to life. MPs have been murdered as a result of their work so there’s that to factor in as well as the loss of privacy, limited options to make extra cash etc.

You have just posted guidance from 2012. It is 2019.

If you read what I have posted it outlines how it has changed- it isn't the guidance from 2012. You are wrong. The rules were changed for the 2010 cohort and updated again in 2012.

Until this year MPs could not claim food or drink. Now they can claim modest hospitality for constituency office (no alcohol) ie tea & coffee so when they have constituency surgeries they can offer a drink.

They can and always have been able to claim an overnight food allowance.

MPs are also entitled to food expenses (up to £25 per night) if they stay overnight outside of both their constituency and the London area, though MPs cannot use their expenses to buy alcohol either in their office or while they’re travelling.

I don’t understand why people are horrified at MPs getting the sort of expenses that most working people do if their job takes them away from home!

There was a staggered introduction of the changes on mortgage interest and accommodation allowances which is why I quoted teh article.

The risk is that we end up with only those who are independently wealthy becoming MPS.

I don’t understand why people are horrified at MPs getting the sort of expenses that most working people do if their job takes them away from home!

I fully agree. The £130 overnight hotel is the same as the civil service. There is a preferential rate agreed with many suppliers and in 2009 you could get a central hotel for that. But now that is by exceptions, you end up in an outer zone hotel and on some nights the allowance has to be increased which is an onerous process. Tuesday night is particularly tricky and if you get 1 night at £120 and one at £140 you cant average.

My DH company has an overnight London accommodation rate of £250 and about £50 a day for subsistence by comparison. Household name company.

I fully agree. The £130 overnight hotel is the same as the civil service.

I am wrong it is not £130 this year- but it is the same as the civil service.

www.theipsa.org.uk/media/185336/hc-2028-ipsa-2019-20_web_accessible.pdf

And MPs can average- so they are better off than civil servants!

They can’t claim overnight food every night- and not if they are either in London or constituency. Only if travelling for eg an APPG.

The numbers you quoted were wrong for budgets etc.
The guidance is updated every year.
Current full guidance is here
www.theipsa.org.uk/media/185336/hc-2028-ipsa-2019-20_web_accessible.pdf

Every claim requires a receipt & explanation of what & why it is being claimed (rightly).

If these claims were not allowed, only very rich people could be MPs. Is that what people want?

The averaging is new. Didn’t used to be the case.

Only a numpty would argue that a MP should be paid their basic salary and no expenses.

I wasn't aware that MP's can't claim for an evening meal while staying in a hotel in London away from their constituency. That's outrageous. DH travels regualrly for work, the company books his accommodation and travel, and he gets £40 per night for an evening meal. Only rule is that they won't pay for booze.

Lots have flats though so no need to claim Food.

In Singapore, for another perspective. From Wiki:

Prior to a salary review in 2011, the Prime Minister's annual salary was S$3.07 million, while the pay of ministerial-grade officers ranged between S$1.58 million and S$2.37 million.

The thought re: very high salaries for MP in Singapore is that it attracts the most talented to the job and avoids corruption, fewer temptations.

@Velveteenfruitbowl ah so we are all sponging off the state then? Bit confused how the NHS, schools, etc manage to get funded if the vast majority of the country are apparently not contributing towards them at all. Can't see why anybody would want to be an MP and represent a constituency composed entirely of feckless scroungers, to be honest.

In relation to your second question...Since 1990 ONE MP has been killed as a result of their job (Jo Cox in 2016. Obviously that alone is one more than should ever.be acceptable....but app.50 police officers have died in service at the same time. At least one pc and one social worker were murdered because of their jobs in the last few months. And they both earned maybe a third of £79k

@onceandneveragain the country is in getting deeper into debt. Obviously there are some people who pay a lot of tax and don’t sponge off the state but even they aren’t paying enough to hold up the rest of the country.

Quite frankly I don’t think police officers or social workers get paid enough either given the nature of their work and the risks involved. I wouldn’t doing a job where I could die for tuppence. I am surprised that anyone would really.

I think some people do it out of political conviction; some enjoy helping their constituents; some want power; and for some it's just the natural next step from student politics/ local councillor/ MP's researcher or other staff member/ in the past, trade union leadership role in the case of Labour MPs, but that's much rarer now. I definitely wouldn't want the job. The abuse and frank threats (sometimes to family members as well as the MP themselves). The increasing attitude that if you have a different view on some issue to some or most of your constituents, you are a traitor who deserves not just political defeat but any abuse that comes your way (at the moment, it's mostly about Brexit, but once that genie is out of the bottle, it could be about anything- and thank god the attitude wasn't so prevalent when MPs chose to abolish the death penalty against the then majority view). The need to vote with your party leadership on everything, like a cloned sheep; and then change when the leadership changes. The job insecurity - and, while a top politician who suffers their 'Portillo moment' can usually move on to some other successful career, it's not so easy for little-known backbenchers without that many connections. No, not something I'd want to do.

The vast majority don’t support their own family, they use state schools, NHS etc instead

Is this for real?

So unless you have private health insurance and send your kids to fee paying schools, you're not supporting your family? That's an odd perspective, and definitely not one that's commonly held on this side of the pond.

If you manage to do a few terms (normally) the pension ain't bad.

The abuse they have to endure these days is horrific. Seems to be worse for women. It’s awful x

You can forget anonymous nights out with your friends or a quiet meal with the kids.

This isn't true. My bil was an MP and we had no problems going out local to them. He might be recognised now and then but very rarely approached. Once out of the constituency far less likely, even when he was a minister.

I would never do it though.

In what universe is 75k not enough to support a family?

I know someone who is standing for election in a safe seat for their party and is likely to win.

They have stood before and every conversation I've had with them their whole obsession with the power and fame comes out. Pretty much everything they have done for years has been directed at crawling up the greasy pole. Its very unpleasant. Its actually a shock that a local constituency association can't see through it but I suppose if you are powerfully backed by the national party you will get through.

This person is a good example of the expression people get the politicians they deserve. If the political system of all mainstream parties was better set up to ensure that quality people are selected it would be different.

As it is a person who is a sycophantic networker who has stood a couple of times before would be more likely to be placed to stand in a safe seat than someone with real ability and real world experience who might want to participate in politics to make a difference.

It's a real shame that the voters don't have more open mindedness to vote for independent candidates who are often of that type.

75k is plenty to support a family. It may not be sufficient to tempt talented people to work in a job where they may face death threats and media intrusion when they could earn just as much or more doing something else.