An MP for a safe seat who having begun to rest on past laurels is preventing new talent from re-energising the parliamentary party.
“We take no particular joy in Mr Hawkins's departure, which appears to be grounded in the explosive terrain of personal differences rather than political ability. It should act as a timely warning, however, to many other, older MPs who have long nestled complacently in the squashy comfort of a safe seat. Such MPs are all too familiar figures in the House of Commons generally, and the Conservative Party specifically. They stagnate on the green benches, consoled only by the dull certainty of re-election: they are embittered by the passing of all hopes of high office, and hang on grimly for a knighthood. By rights, however, the safest seats should boast the greatest talent. If more local parties were ruthless enough to ring the changes, that might actually become the case.”
- A leading article in The Sunday Telegraph commenting on the deselection of Surrey Heath's Tory MP, Nick Hawkins.
Safe seat selectorates can install MPs for a generation
Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system means that certain Members of Parliament in 'safe seats' are unlikely to be ousted - even when their party is very unpopular. It is assumed - rightly or wrongly - that a Tory who is selected for a largely rural seat, or a Labour party activist who is selected for a Scottish inner city seat, has a job for life.
In America the situation is particularly biased towards incumbents. In the 2004 elections for the House of Representatives, fewer than 10% of the winning candidates won less than 55% of the vote. An increasing number won by more than 70% of the vote because of gerrymandering.
This situation puts disproportionate power into the hands of the super-sized voters who form local party selectorates. In safe seats the local Tory or Labour parties effectively choose the MP – their decision is merely ratified by the wider electorate.
Unfortunately the party selectorates do not always install MPs who work hard for their constituencies. This problem becomes particularly pronounced as MPs age. The 'parliamentary bedblocker' phrase was coined in the summer of 2004 by Tories anxious to oust lazy MPs who were preventing young turks from entering the parliament and revitalising the party.
People anxious about the quality of the parliamentary Conservative Party took heart from the decision of Surrey Heath Tories to deselect their local MP - Nick Hawkins. The previous Conservative MP to be deselected was George Gardiner before the 1997 election. Whatever the merits of the Gardiner and Hawkins deselections it is right that no Conservative MP should take their local Association for granted. Far too few Conservative MPs face a realistic threat of deselection and this can encourage laziness.
Mandatory reselection contests for sitting MPs where they are pitched against hungry new talent – rather than readoption meetings that are mere formalities – might be a solution.
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