The career prospects of prospective candidates and MPs are sobering. In 2001 there were 2,659 failed attempts to get into parliament and since 1945 the average life span of an MP has been just over 15 years.
Sooner or later MPs have to find another job. As Jeremy Paxman states in The Political Animal, 260 new MPs were elected in 1997, meaning many redundancies.
Those who were seeking jobs realised how few useful skills they had and how long they had been out of the job market and out of touch with new styles and technologies.
Nicholas Milton
Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Congleton
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SUBSIDISING: I am accused of using my allowance to pay for premises in which I have a stake. I have made available office space in my home for use as my parliamentary office. I claim no rent from public funds, although the commercial rate could be £10,000 a year. I am therefore subsiding the public purse. Why? Because I think MPs should be accessible in their constituencies.
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Norman Baker MP
Liberal Democrat, Lewes