Smoothing the cliff edge: supporting MPs at their point of departure from elected office – Report Summary

Summary

In January 2023, the Leader of the House of Commons committed to “making our legislature the best in the world.” She said that she would work with MPs to focus on the services they receive “To ensure they are ready when they arrive, and that they are supported properly to deliver through their parliamentary career.”¹

We too want the UK Parliament to be the best. We believe that, to do this, Members of the House of Commons must have access to the high-quality support that they need, both when they are serving in the House and when they leave.

The services provided to Members at general elections have been considered by our predecessor committees. These past inquiries led to significant strides in improving the experience of Members when they join the House. However, we identified that there remains a significant gap in the way the House Service supports Members when they leave the role; a time that can be one of the most challenging in an MP’s career. It is this problem that we seek to address. We heard from former MPs, academics, career experts and officials to understand how the House Service might do better in supporting Members when they leave after a general election.

The question of the quality of services provided to MPs when they leave the House implicates our democracy. The evidence we heard and the academic research we consulted showed us that if we do not provide sufficient support to MPs when they leave Parliament, this could deter others from seeking election in future. MPs and governments will often make short term expedient financial decisions to assuage public anger or concern. However, all governments and serving MPs have a duty to ensure that the House can attract and retain talented people of all different backgrounds from across the UK. We must recognise that, if the public wants the best individuals to represent them in the House of Commons, it is vital that MPs receive the support they need to do – and leave – their jobs well.

Central to our Report is a phrase we heard several times during our inquiry: “duty of care”. For many of the former Members we spoke to, the House Service, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) and the political parties have not fully appreciated their duty of care to MPs leaving the House.

Members leaving the House face problems that can make the transition to a life after Parliament difficult. Electoral defeat can have a significant impact on their health, compounded by the public nature of the role and the heavily contested nature of politics. Many find themselves on a financial and career cliff edge following the loss of employment and are confronted with the task of seeking a new career identity and sense of purpose. The typical question which fellow MPs and others ask is “what will you do next?” At the last election defeated MPs served for an average of just under nine years; for most, this career does not end in retirement or wealth. Finding employment can be hard if former MPs are unable to articulate and translate their skills and experience. We heard that others simply find that prospective employers have little interest in what they might bring to an organisation. Some said that their former role as an MP acts as a severe barrier to employment.

To this is added the administrative burden of winding-up parliamentary and constituency offices within two months after an election. Many find the process inflexible and the timeframe too short; some told us they only finished several months later, by which time they were no longer an MP or paid for this work. At the end of this long process, some may find their redundancy payments withheld and face financial hardship. On leaving the House, there is a feeling that the years of dedicated public service made by individuals in a role that is not just a job but the life of those involved is not fully recognised or appreciated.

We make recommendations that will start to tackle some of these challenges:

• Improving the accountability and preparedness of the House Service and IPSA for future elections.
• Valuing and recognising departing MPs’ contribution to our democracy.
• Ensuring outgoing MPs receive the professional career transition support, which we identify is offered in other employment sectors, to help them through the challenging period of transition.
• Creating a professional development offer that captures the skills vital for a twenty-first century parliament.
• Modifying the winding-up period and loss-of-office payments to reflect more accurately the time it takes for MPs to close down their offices, and to ensure they are fairly supported into their next career step.

This Report does not consider MPs’ pay while they are holding office. By focusing on support for Members, we hope to recognise the vital contributions they make by serving their constituents daily in their legislative, scrutiny and representative functions. Importantly, we hope that, by improving the services it provides, Parliament can attract the best possible people to seek election and ensure the health of our democracy for future generations. We agree with the Leader of the House that we should commit to making the UK Parliament the best legislature in the world. Improving the support provided to the Members that are the lifeblood of this legislature is the place to start.