Obsession With Where MPs Grew Up Could Be "Hugely Damaging" To Politics

A recent emphasis on the importance of MP candidates being from the area they seek to represent has been “hugely, hugely, hugely damaging to politics,” according to the journalist whose work scrutinises parliamentary candidate selections.

Michael Crick, who runs the Tomorrow’s MPs project, said that there has been an “overwhelming pattern” of an “obsession with candidates being local,” but believes there are other attributes to be considered when it comes to building an effective government.

Crick, a political journalist, has long been keeping track of who is standing and then been selected as Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPC) for political parties in constituencies across the country. 

He said that he has “always been fascinated” by parliamentary selections and their significance in public life, as “the moment when somebody gets chosen for a decent seat is really the turning point in their career”. 

However, emphasis on a candidate’s local credentials, he thinks, can reduce choices for wannabe MPs and party members, as well as failing to focus on other qualities that could make a good parliamentarian.

“I think far too much of the process is thinking about who would be a good MP, when they should be thinking about who would become good ministers,” Crick said. 

“About half of all MPs become ministers [...] and we need the best and the brightest people to run the country. People that want to persuade the council to fill in a few potholes are not necessarily the people for negotiating with China or Russia."

He believes that “there will be exceptions to this of course” but was critical about the way in which choice could be reduced. 

“It means that for an individual in politics, they’ve got perhaps one or two choices: