UFO Info Week-End

Very few of the 659 Members of Parliament use the position to their own advantage

Very few of the 659 Members of Parliament use the position to their own advantage, almost all of them work their socks off risking their health, their sanity and their personal lives for less money than the headteacher of a comprehensive school.And what thanks do we get? What rewards are there for those of us who decide we want to try to change the world, to give something back to our local communities or just to improve a few lives, whether through local or national government?The voters expect us to solve all their problems for them. They expect the council to do something about noisy neighbours, to mend all the potholes, to provide them with a house if they need one, to detect child abuse from 5 miles away (when the people next door haven’t noticed anything amiss) and to dispose of their rubbish regularly without polluting the air with incinerators or using valuable land space. But they don’t want to pay council tax.They want the Government to lock up criminals but not to put a bail hostel or prison anywhere near them. They don’t want to get asthma or to have their house flooded but they must drive their car 200m down the road. They don’t want to have to wait a long time for a hospital operation and they want their children to have a good education. They don’t mind other people paying higher taxes, but they don’t want to themselves.They want their politicians to be “normal” people who they can relate to, but they also want them to work 100 hours a week and be available any time of the day or night to sort out their problems.What sort of “normal” person works away from home all week until at least 10pm every night, works every weekend, gets recognised when they are in the supermarket and criticised publicly if they put on a bit of weight or wear the wrong jacket? No wonder so few women, with families to care for or real lives to lead, are attracted to the idea of sitting in a debating chamber till one o’clock in the morning listening to Eric Forth droning on about arcane procedures.Like many people in the Taunton constituency, I used to think the previous Tory MP was lazy and ineffective because there was little sign of him on the streets or in the press locally. Looking back now, I suspect he actually worked quite hard, from 9am to late at night from Monday to Thursday in Westminster and on Fridays and Saturdays in the constituency.Perhaps he took Sundays off to see his wife and children.

As far as I know he didn’t have another job on the side.I, on the other hand, had to be superwoman. I worked 7 days a week, attending as many local events as possible, meeting key professionals, doing even the smallest bit of casework, attending parish council meetings, burying myself in the life of the constituency. My only daughter was away at university and I have no husband or partner to worry about. There was no one to complain that I spent too many hours at work and had little else in my life.But I’m not unique There is no such thing as a safe Liberal Democrat seat. Every Liberal Democrat MP has to be a party spokesperson on the national scene as well as a human dynamo in his or her constituency.Because the party is always short of money, the MP also has to be involved in the political organisation of the constituency and in local fund-raising. It is even worse for women, who are still comparatively rare in Parliament.

Much as I hated being the “token” woman on many occasions, it had to be done ­ because to have no woman would have been worse.The public expect too much of politicians. They are expected to answer every question correctly, to know every pothole in the constituency, to be on duty all the time. And then they say: “You are all the same, you are all in it for yourselves.”Blame the politicians? It’s time somebody blamed the voters.Those of you who can’t be bothered to walk down the road once every couple of years and put a cross on a ballot paper There is such a thing as society and you belong to it. Many people around the world would literally die to get the right to vote in a free election. There are a hell of a lot of things wrong in this country and a lot that needs changing (including the voting system) but if you just sit at home moaning about it you will get the government and the politicians you deserve.jackieballard cix.co.uk>The author was MP for Taunton, 1997-2001. It’s never an easy thing to drop into conversation.