We have a decent amount of debate about the role of MPs – in particular whether they should be spending less time sorting out their constituents’ problems and more in Westminster holding the Government to account and taking part in the law-making process.
So it may be instructive to see how W.J. Brown MP saw the role back in 1945.
In addition to debating in the chamber, Brown described the role of an MP (and I’m not sure if he intended these to be in order of importance) as:
1. Representing the local interests of his constituency and see that they get fair treatment at the hands of Government. This could involve acting as a middle-man between Ministers and local authorities.
2. Reporting back to his constituency on what he’s doing in their name. Brown was proud that he spent a long weekend in the constituency once a month and held public meetings. He complains that many MPs are not so assiduous.
3. Deal with individual grievances of constituents. Yes, Brown did see this as an important role for the MP back in 1945, with queries coming in about any of a thousand subjects.
4. Take an interest in the collective life of his constituents – attend and speak at various sorts of events and meetings.
5. Receive, and deal with letters from across the country. Some MPs, Brown tells us, ignore letters from outside their constituency. Others reply, but only if a stamped addressed envelope has been included. Brown is keen on this point, noting how expensive it is for a good MP to reply to all those letters.
6. Keep up with his reading and studying.
So even before we had one person one vote for General Elections*, MPs had a wide range of roles including a big bag of constituency casework.
That doesn’t mean it’s right for that to continue, but it does show it isn’t so much of a new phenomenon.
* 1951 since you ask.
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3 Comments
Is this still Lib Dem Voice or has it been taken over by the History Channel?
Yes, Iain, it may have been 1951 when they finally abolished the University seats, which allowed certain people two votes, but to be honest that was a fairly minor distortion. Universal adult suffrage with most people having just one vote (and applying to all those over 21) was passed in 1928. You undoubtedly know more about Mr Brown than I do, but it seems to me he was arguing an early version of the movement which was greatly linked to the Liberals’ revival in the 60s and 70s, ie community politics and “localism”. We are at a time now when that idea is all-powerful, and is linked with a more universal consumerist movement – “campaigns everywhere”.
What we perhaps need now, is more of an educational role again, to make more generally known and debate more widely the downsides of parts of the status quo, and parts of new proposals. An acceptance that NO state of affairs is perfect, and that sometimes leaving things as is, even when something nasty has come up, is the best way.
It is very easy, as a local representative AND a legislator to go with the loudest voices, whether they be in favour of status quo or change!
W. J. Brown was my grandfather. A very clever man, years ahead of his time