By-Election Winner Faced "Complete Step Change" On Becoming An MP

Alistair Strathern, the recently elected MP for Mid-Bedfordshire has said he faced a “complete step change” on entering parliament without the resources he had enjoyed during his election campaign.

Strathern, who was elected as a Labour MP in a by-election in October, told PoliticsHome that it was somewhat “jarring” making the transition from campaigning election candidate to MP and getting used to the “madness” in Westminster.

Strathern overturned a Conservative majority of just under 1,200 in Mid Bedforshire after former Tory MP Nadine Dorries resigned last summer. 

Reflecting on his arrival in Parliament, he said that “the big thing early on” was “just getting used to the madness – It was a complete step change initially in capacity”. 

“You go from an election campaign – a by-election is a special case – but generally you’ve got lots of volunteers giving up their time, their expertise, their support, to get you over the line to do everything they can to build up your presence and responsiveness throughout that campaign," he explained. 

"Then the second election is over, they understandably go back to their lives, and just at the point where everyone’s expectations of you jump up because you’re now an MP rather than just a candidate, your capacity to do anything about that drops off.” 

The pressures then switch to the immediate priorities such as building a team and an office. Strathern has announced that he will contest the new Hitchin seat at the upcoming general election. Due to the incoming boundary changes, the seat will include parts of his current Mid Bedfordshire patch. 

There was one other contest on the same day as Strathern’s election, in Tamworth, and another shortly beforehand in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, and