The Rise of the Local MP
| Author | Philip Cowley,Robert J. Gandy,Scott Foster |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058231167270 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
32 POLITICAL INSIGHT • MARCH 2023
Most electoral systems are
organised around the
representation of place.
Politicians are usually elected
to represent particular geographic areas; these
go by dierent labels – wards, constituencies,
districts, ridings, precincts, regions – but while
the name may change the principle does
not. There is also often the expectation that
those who are elected will have roots in the
areas they represent, that they will in some
way be ‘local’ to it. This can be made explicit in
electoral law, with residency requirements for
candidates and the like, while other times it is
just a norm or a preference.
One study of representation in
Europe noted that the desire for local
parliamentarians is so common that it is
often ‘considered a natural order, bordering
on banality’. Multiple studies in the UK have
found that being local is one of the things
most highly valued by voters when it comes
to election candidates and you often see this
desire for local candidates reected in the
The Rise of
the Local MP
‘All politics is local’ – especially, it seems, when it comes to
Westminster. Philip Cowley, Robert J. Gandy and Scott Foster report
on research that shows that MPs increasingly represent the same
region as their birthplace and ask if Parliament would be better off if
it drew from a wider pool.
rows which occur when parties are selecting
candidates for elections, with allegations of
people being ‘parachuted’ into constituencies.
These are often would-be candidates
favoured by the national party elite being
selected in constituencies with which they
have had little or no previous links.
Yet these cases, which occur in the run
up to every election, might be in danger
of drawing attention away from a more
widespread and countervailing trend that
we have detected: that for the most part,
British MPs seem to be becoming more
local. The rise of the local politician is
interesting in itself, as part of the changing
nature of political recruitment, but it also
raises interesting questions about political
representation in the UK and how we
research these topics.
© Paul Marriott / Alamy Stock Photo
Political Insight March 2023 BU.indd 32Political Insight March 2023 BU.indd 32 27/02/2023 13:5027/02/2023 13:50
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