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I also know two people who were from single-parent, working class backgrounds. Both got firsts. Both made remarkable progress in their professional careers
And there's class of course. Someone who didn't grow up with connections will have a much harder time deciding to take a break from their decently paid engineering career (or whatever) for an exhausting gig halfway across the country that could spit them out again in four years time.
Meanwhile mediocre upper middle class MPs who are likely to lose the next round of elections can just start putting out the feelers in their network and land a cushy PR gig.
So yeah, taking that risk should be compensated for. Maybe a perk could be preferential access to civil service jobs back in their constituency for MPs who doesn't get re-elected?
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starfish&coffee
andyfallsoff
Couldn't agree more.
I know two people from university who are now Tory MPs (one a treasury minister, the other a PPS to one of the most senior roles in cabinet). Neither of them was remarkable academically. Both of them were the sort of weirdos who were prominent in the union and the student conservative association. Both of them were from very wealthy backgrounds. Both of them had bang-average professional careers (law and finance), where they were left behind by their more able peers. Nonetheless, they will be running the country in the near future.
I also know two people who were from single-parent, working class backgrounds. Both got firsts. Both made remarkable progress in their professional careers (engineering and economics respectively). Both are Labour supporters, and would probably walk straight into the front bench on ability. They deservedly earn six-figure salaries. Wouldn't you want them in parliament? They would be running circles around the first two chancers.