An Insiders Guide to Being a New MP

This joint piece is by: 

Gary Kent has worked for MPs and Peers since 1987. He has focused on Ireland and Iraq for nearly 40 years and has taught MPs and civil servants in Iraq. He is writing a memoir.

Paul Richards’ first job in Parliament was in 1991. He has served as a parliamentary researcher, special adviser, and speechwriter. His latest book How to Write a Parliamentary Speech is out on 3 October.

As the hurly-burly of the election fades from memory, and the hard yards of governing begin, how should the legions of newly-minted Labour MPs fill their days? Between us, we have seen nine new Parliaments elected, and witnessed the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) grow and shrivel, from the highs of landslides to the lows of crushing defeat.

Over 35 years (or 70 between us!), we have seen Labour MPs come and go, some leaving a legacy of change, others barely registering a murmur on the political Richter scale. What are the lessons for them and in different ways for party members?

Above all else, you must prioritise, for your sanity. Of course, you must react to events and respond to constituents. Every Member of Parliament must be a diligent servant of the people who sent them there. Labour’s landslide was wide, but shallow. Many Labour MPs have majorities in only double figures. But you can’t do everything, all at once. Successful MPs spot a gap in the market and make a mark. We may wish to see the total transformation of society, but by inches is how MPs make change. Find a niche and own it.

Some years back Sharon Hodgson MP persuaded the authorities to lift the ban on mobile phones in NHS hospitals. Phone companies charged patients a small fortune to use bedside phones, on the assumed but scant evidence that mobiles interfered with medical machinery. Thanks to one MP, millions can stay in touch inside our hospitals.

Once you’ve decided what to prioritise, you need to explain why. Your words are weapons. Sharpen them and deploy them wisely. In oral questions, you have about 80 words to make your pitch. In a news release, an opening paragraph. On social media, just a few seconds. The art of political communication is precision and concision. Successful MPs can tell a story or make a point with admirable clarity and economy. In our highly contested and combative public square, where black is white and up is down, you need to cut through the nonsense and lies.

Be prepared to change your mind. A successful MP can accept, like Keynes, that when the facts change, you should change your mind. Be open to evidence, hear other points of view, listen to critics. Jeremy Corbyn’s avid acolytes told us that he hadn’t shifted ground on any substantive policy issue in over 40 years. This is, in our view, not an admirable quality.

As we are buffeted by bewildering technological change, MPs must adapt to both the awesome opportunities and dark threats. Adopting John Prescott’s adage of traditional values in a modern setting is wisest, unless you are happy to be a timeless guardian of creaking tactics and
dusty strategies. The best MPs are on a journey, not stuck in a rut. Some of the most effective Labour MPs started on the hard left and learnt along the way how wrong they were.

This means that MPs must forge out the time to think, read, discuss, write, and learn. An MP’s diary seldom allows time for reflection, yet this is the most useful time amid the end-to-end commitments and obligations. Test your opinions by reading our enemies, from the Daily Mail to the Morning Star. Keep up with new books from Will Hutton or Tony Blair but also by enemies and critics. Ian Dunt’s new book, How Westminster works and why it doesn’t is sobering reading, for instance. Read diaries, biographies, and memoirs from all sides. You are standing on the shoulders of giants, so learn from their triumphs and disasters. Even a good book of political quotations can inspire.

Be prepared to dissent but pick your battles wisely. We’ve seen countless parliamentary rebellions over 30 years. They seldom work, and usually consign the rebels to the outer darkness. Unless you wish to be a serial critic, noisy but impotent, then choose when to
challenge, and how to do it. Let the whips know your concerns before the Daily Telegraph. Be sure of your grounds for dissent.

In past decades, for instance, the default orthodoxy for many Labour MPs was a ‘united Ireland’. Yet real progress and peace came only when MPs adopted a constructive approach to an intractable problem. The result of a few brave outriders was the Good Friday Agreement. Minorities can become majorities if they present a better case, and not be punished for heresy.

You’ll be asked to join international delegations. Such visits can test assumptions, build alliances, forge friendships, and complement UK diplomacy. But a golden rule is that if the organisers stress the comfort of the travel and the hotels it may be a jolly. Always decide who you meet. Travel does broaden horizons but ensure you’re not being used and the visit is politically justifiable.

We are unusual in having served many decades in parliament (without becoming MPs). Most MPs’ staffers are in their 20s, keen as mustard, and ambitious. Nothing wrong with that. But an MP must select their staff with forensic care. A politics degree is often a precursor to working in Parliament. But is not the only route in.

Far better is a heady mix of personal integrity, honesty, work ethic, curiosity, networking skills, and above all loyalty. MPs’ staff need to be able to handle challenges, communicate, learn on the hoof, and enable the MP to get on with the job. It’s about getting the MP in the
right room at the right time with the right piece of paper. A dissertation on John Locke is not much help here. MPs must appoint the people who can soak up work like a sponge while offering insight and advice.

Lastly, there is nothing ignoble about ambition. Brand new MPs’ heads may still be spinning, but Chairs of select committees have been elected with members to come, the chairs of all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) are being elected, the broadcasters are choosing their favoured interlocutors, and some have already accepted the seals of ministerial office.

Ambition to get on, do well, make changes, and leave a legacy, is nothing of which to be ashamed. Indeed, without a degree of purpose, an MP’s time may lack focus and their opportunities squandered. Like Governments, MPs’ time is limited, and without a clear mission the days are filled but the years are wasted. Remember – you’ve not heard of most Labour MPs. They have left little mark. Don’t be one of them.

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