Fancy being an MP? It’s only for the brave
IN the very near future there is going to be yet another General Election paid for by the tax-payer.
The current representatives of the people have abysmally failed to carry out the wishes of the electorate as expressed in the EU Referendum and, in order to hopefully clear the air, some 4,000-plus candidates will present themselves to the voters, extolling no doubt at great length, what they believe to be their outstanding virtues.
But it puzzles me as to why anyone would seek such a job.
For a start there are very unsocial hours at Parliament, albeit a four-and-a-half-day week with long holidays.
In addition, MPs have a mountain of work to get through on behalf of their constituents, while beavering away in their cramped offices in Westminster.
They are at the beck and call of their whips and, should the voting bell ring, work must be dropped immediately as they loyally register support to their party.
There are no such things as weekends off, for it is essential to be seen on every possible occasion in their constituencies, and vital to get photographed as often as possible by the press.
Yes, the pay scale is not too bad, just under £80,000 per annum for a rank-and-file MP.
In addition, there are, of course, expenses plus various other perks such as free meals and accommodation when attending events.
If you have the good fortune – if that is what it is – to become an MP and are the slightest bit ambitious, then your life is not your own, for you have to get involved with ‘good works’ to get yourself noticed by those in authority.
It is also essential that you have a squeaky-clean past, for the slightest indiscretion will be unearthed by the media.
This danger increases the higher up the greasy pole you get; and history shows that a promising career can be cut short in an instant for something that happened 20 years or so ago when the rules of the game where entirely different.
Only the brave should apply!
Russell Luckock is chairman of Birmingham pressings firm
AE Harris