As part of the Hansard Society's longer-term 'A Year in the Life' study of newly-elected legislators, this 2011 report explored the experience of MPs elected in 2010. The report found that long hours and the competing demands of Westminster and constituency were damaging new MPs' family life – yet most such MPs aspired to make politics a long-term career.
Entering a legislature as a newly-elected Member is a daunting experience. Exhausted from an election campaign, new Members are faced with a huge, multifaceted, and heavily scrutinised but poorly understood role for which no job description exists and which they are expected to perform effectively from day 1.
At Westminster, new MPs need to master the traditions and procedural complexities of the Commons, set up their offices, hire staff, find personal accommodation and re-arrange family life – all before they can properly begin working as a legislator and constituency representative. How do they decide what they are going to do and how they are going to do it? How do they learn the ropes in a new and challenging political environment? Do they have the resources to carry out their role effectively? How do they balance the expectations and demands of their constituents, their party, the media and others? What are they hoping to achieve, and how does the reality of the experience match up to their expectations?
The Hansard Society's long-term 'A Year in the Life' research investigates the experiences of newly-elected legislators during their first year in the job. The research aims to advance public understanding of what MPs and other elected representatives do, and provide an independent evidence base to aid parliamentary staff developing induction, training and support for newly-elected Members.
At Westminster, the core of the research consists of repeated surveys of new MPs, supplemented by interviews. The research was first conducted with respect to MPs newly elected in 2005, generating a first report in 2006.
This 2011 report presented the results of the research as conducted with respect to MPs elected for the first time in 2010. These MPs faced the added pressures and new requirements of the post-expenses scandal environment. The report found that:
New MPs are certainly not in it for the money
New MPs are working very long hours, to the detriment of their personal and family lives
MPs face a difficult balancing act, weighing up the demands of constituency work and their parliamentary role
Early Day Motions (EDMs) are the biggest source of dissatisfaction with how Parliament works
Most of the new MPs aspire to make politics a long-term career, and more than half hope to become ministers
Our reports on the experiences of the 2005 and 2010 intakes of MPs were used by the House of Commons Administration Committee during its inquiries into post-election services. House of Commons officials used the research in particular to inform the improvement of the orientation and induction offerings provided to Members after the 2010 and 2015 general elections. The research was also used by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) during its Review of MPs' Pay and Pensions.
After 2011, the 'A Year in the Life' research was extended to Members newly elected that year to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Irish Dáil. This expansion of the research allowed the generation of comparative insights and the potential for learning and exchange of best practice among the four parliaments and assemblies involved.
Executive Summary
Introduction
Salary and expenses
Change in salary
IPSA
Working operations
Working hours
Division of time
Work priorities
Voting priorities
Communications and technology
The parliamentary experience
Satisfaction with Parliament
Impact on personal life
Aspirations
Next steps
Research details
Endnotes
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To mark the Hansard Society’s 80th anniversary we are launching the Churchill-Attlee Democracy Lecture in honour of our first members, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. The inaugural lecture will be given by former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Theresa May MP. This is a fundraising event for our 80th Anniversary Appeal. Date & location: Tuesday 14 May 2024, 7:00-8:15pm, Westminster (venue to be announced) Tickets: £25
With a general election on the horizon there has been a spate of new legislation and regulations to implement changes to the way the election will be run, with consequences for voters and electoral administrators. Parliament has not always had a role in approving these changes. This briefing sets out the core changes to the electoral process that have been implemented since the last general election in 2019, the role that Parliament has played in scrutinising and approving them, and the risks arising from these changes.
The Climate Change Act 2008 established a framework for setting carbon budgets every five years. But the role of Parliament in approving these budgets has been widely criticised, including by the Prime Minister. The Environmental Audit Committee has proposed improvements in the scrutiny process to ensure effective climate action, particularly in the context of the UK’s commitment to achieving 'Net Zero' emissions by 2050. These reforms will significantly alter the way Parliament handles the Seventh Carbon Budget in 2025.
The Government’s flagship Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2009. The genesis of the delegated powers in the Bill – dating back a decade - tells an important story about the way in which incomplete policy-making processes are used by Ministers to seek ‘holding’ powers in a Bill, only for that precedent to then be used to justify further, broader powers in subsequent Bills. This ‘creeping’ effect in the legislative process undermines parliamentary scrutiny of ministerial action.
