Automated transcription from a recent interview on the Week In Westminster:
Despite the risk of falling masonry. If they make it to parliament, believe it or not, there are still people who want to be MPs and the parties are busy selecting candidates for the next general election. So who are these wannabe politicians? And how do they prepare for selection? Rosie Campbell is professor of politics at King’s College London and an expert.
In parliamentary candidates, while Peter Botting has spent years coaching would be conservative MPs. I asked Peter if enough people still wanted to do the job, They do, which is good because politics is important, politics, affects policies. Policies are about people, and it’s really good that we have people on both sides of them, two major parties of wanting to get involved in politics To good.
People want to be emphasis in every walk of life. There are variable quality and some people are coming in for the right reasons, Some people are coming in for the wrong reasons, So there’s a mixture And Rosie from your work. To the sort of people who want to become MPs who want to be candidates.
I think one of the most notable changes is that we’ve got many fewer MPs who’ve got what might be called, a traditional working-class background, and that partly reflects change in society, and the growth of the middle class, but it also does reflect the professionalization of politics. And many people who work in politics.
Now have had a whole career in politics before actually entering Parliament. Why is it that working class? People don’t try to make that move? Is it also an affordability issue? I think it is. I’ve run the candidate survey that’s been conducted every election since 2015 and where the question asks about selection expenses, so not running actually for election, but we’re seeking selection and we’re astounded that some of them were coming in at 40 50,000 pounds.
What we found is, of course, there are a lot of costs that are hidden for gone earnings rental, if you don’t already live in the constituency travel child care, unless Have got a very flexible kind of job or a private income or a supportive employer or perhaps, you know, you’re a trade union candidate and you get supported, there are all these contingent factors that can make it really quite difficult to run financially.
Now preach it, you offer services to candidates. So presumably you’re part of that bill. Just explain to listeners what you do to help people become MPs. They swear by you the ones I’ve spoken to, well, there’s three parts of a message from any want to be counted. That one is who they are.
One is why they’d be a good candidate. And the third is why they would fit into the constituency. I helped them predominantly understand who they are. Why they’re doing it and to tell their story in a way that isn’t self-deprecating and understanding themselves but also isn’t chessbanging and annoying.
And a bit of a jerk, sort of person, you absolutely wouldn’t want to go and have a beer with In candidates Rosie. Well, I have to say one of the things that I worry about most is the kind of toxicity of the online world that then spills into the real world, especially for women, especially for women of colour, but actually, for all candidates, you know, the kind of abuse that they receive online and potentially might receive in the real world is become a really challenging issue.
I mean, we talked to Ms. He’s murdered in, you know, in recent times it’s a really serious challenge to our democracy. Rosie is totally right about the abuse becoming a politician has a massive cost financially. It has a cost on your family. Many lived the two toothbrush lifestyle and it’s a constituency is within range commutable range of assessments so.
Hey absolutely. Yeah. And this takes a massive toll on the families and the kids who wants to grow up with their parents as an MP, right? It’s not gonna help you at school. One of the criteria. The one be candidates have to prove is that they are a robust and resilient and That is part of the deal being an elected representative, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy and it doesn’t mean that those defences don’t, sometimes let those attacks through and they hurt Rosie, just explained what people have to do when they are trying to become the candidate for a seat.
What’s the process? And it’s obviously different for each party but there are similarities. Yes. And it changes from election to election. I mean, when we’ve had these snap elections, the process has been shortened and centralised but, you know, traditionally you need to be selected by the local part, at least for the conservative party.
The labour party, your shortlisted and supported by that local constituency party, which is absolutely key. And you know, something that members of political parties really hold on to in the labour party that have been all women’s shortlists since 97 although not applicable. Now that there are more than 50% women, labour and peace.
There was a period where David Cameron had the a list. So a certain number of seats have to choose from this 100 candidates. The time it’s down to that local party selector to decide Peter, tell us a bit more detail of the conservative selections. Well, there’s a bit of a power balance, the changes between the conservative parties centrally in the associations.
I’m probably going to annoy some people now. But my original brief was to get good candidates with real jobs in real lives from outside of politics to get past and I quote dinosaur associations, who wanted somebody who’d been campaigning and delivering since they were 50. But what sometimes happens within the party is the party then changes with depending on who is running the candidates team and what their priorities are.
So there’s a sort of, a power struggle between the party centrally and the associations Rosie, it is still hard to be a woman going for selection, isn’t it? And your research has demonstrated that unfortunately? It’s still the case that the political parties that have reached parity are Thing a form of quota.
I mean, they’re only 650 MPs, you know, trying to fill those benches with half women out of a population of how many of us are the 70 million or so, you know the repentive good women out there and the international research shows that actually one of the differences between men and women is that equally well qualified.
Candidates men are more likely to sort of wake up in the morning and look and mirroring things. Yes, I’m the next MP for my local area. Women are more likely to think that someone says to them, you would be a fantastic MP physical parties need to reach into communities and identify the good women and tell them, they want them and then they show the demand.
And the supply is forthcoming Professor, Rosie Campbell, and Peter botting. That’s all from me. This week and MPs are off on a little recess too, so there will be no weak in Westminster. Next Saturday, we’ll be back on the 10th of June with Ben, Riley Smith in the chair.