An MP is paid £65K. A Minister is paid over £100K. What do we get for this money? What should we get? Far too often we get grainy pictures of MPs pointing at pavements and other local “issues” that our MP is campaigning for or against, saving or condemning.
In today’s re-election campaigns these ‘grin-and-click’ activities are as important for MPs as Coke and ice in cheap scotch is to me. But what a warped use of money, time and effort.
Obviously we want our MPs to be local so they know, understand and are part of the community. Of course, we want them to be visible and accessible. Of course, they should know and care. But do we pay doctors to put a plaster on a kid’s scraped knee?
Blame for the emergence of this quasi social worker, the ‘pavement pointing” MP lies partly with decades of Lib Dem MPs conducting “being-busy” local-guerilla campaigning and the EU taking many big decisions away from Westminster. Conservative and Labour MPs have been forced to compete by doing the work that should really be being done by councillors. Some enjoy this type of campaigning. But, is it really their job?
I think MPs should be focused on three main activities.
The first is Westminster based. MPs are there to craft or scrutinise legislation – debating in the chamber, working on committees – and reading up on the issues at hand so that they can do these things well. They are there to be in government or be in opposition.
The second thing that they should be doing is standing up for their constituents – personally getting heavily involved with the hard-core, non-routine case work that comes their way. The hard-core stuff – not the things that their case workers or local councillors could and should be doing.
The third is being the local ‘champion’ – standing up for the patch.
Of course, some (not all!) MPs say they have to do the non-MP casework because their local councillors are not up to the job and they would damage the shared party banner by responding slowly or not at all. Happy and high performing MPs seem to usually(!) enjoy the support of competent and hard working councillors.
MPs are understandably sensitive to the loud and strident voices of 2011 – the very small minority of constituents who are writers to the local paper, twitter users, facebook group starters, blog writers and online petition signers. The ones likely to jump up and down and cause a stink because their MP is “not working hard enough’. Which generally translates as not being mentioned in the paper 3 times every week, being unavailable at a week’s notice to chose the winner of the local ferret derby (3 entrants and 3 accompanying humans), not on TV once a week or, most appallingly, took 48 hours to respond to their letter/phone/email/facebook message/tweet about the neighbour’s encroaching hedge.
And who can blame nervous MPs with small majorities for keeping these noisy and demanding hectors quiet by making sure that they are regularly seen in the local paper pointing at various things and grinning?
But these demanding loud voices should not rule the roost or define the way an MP does their job. An MP should also be sensitive to the long-term needs of all of his constituents. Not just the loud and excitable ones.
And that means spending his/her time doing the important casework and the massively important anti-photo-opp legislative work (time in the chamber, reading reports and papers, learning about what they are voting on etc etc) while councillors should be pulling their weight and doing the councillor work. That’s what would really benefit the majority of constituents. Especially in the long term. Proactive system-improving thougtful work that enhanced legislation- not just reactive problem-fixing work.
And if this happened – an MP would also have more time – to give the quiet constituent who has a life shattering case that needs the MP’s time and intervention.
If only being a good legislator was measurable and sellable. If only that was what the electorate voted for! If only that was how they judged MPs!
OK. OK. I hear you. Am leaving lala land now – returning to earth….
