The House of Commons

The programme last night 'Inside the House on Commons' was superb and provided a wealth of examples than can be used to good effect on examinations. For students who want to build on the knowledge acquired, I would thoroughly recommend a viewing of this public lecture by Philip Cowley entitled 'The Modern MP: Unruly and Unloved' ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0517n8c). The main points he makes are also summarised in this article written by Michael White from the Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/20/mythbuster-mps-voters-home-truths-philip-cowley). They include:
1) Parliament is now more important than it has been for more than 100 years. Parliament is become increasingly assertive and rebellious. For example, in this Parliament there have been big rebellions over military intervention in Syria, House of Lords reform and the EU (to name just a few).
2) Voters like their MP's to be rebellious. Cowley makes the point that public approval for MPs who have rebelled on more than 10% of divisions is higher than for those haven't. In short, the public seem to like MPs who are genuinely independent and think for themselves rather than being in the pocket of the party whips.
3) While MPs as a class are unpopular, many members of the public actually don't mind their local MP (too much). The British Electoral Survey of 24,000 people showed a net trust score of -36% for MPs, -6% for the local MP.
4) MPs are increasingly focused on their constituency duties. 74% of MPs agree that the most important part of their job is constituency based. The 2010 intake expends 60% of their effort locally and only 40% in Westminster. As one MP tells Cowley, when her local office told a constituent she was "in London" the reply was: "What's she doing down there?".
5) The lack of representativeness of Parliament is a real issue. The public want greater diversity.