Second jobs for MPs? Let’s not exclude the polymaths from Parliament
(Alamy)
In its latest exercise in self-flagellation, Parliament will today debate a proposal by the Government to ban MPs from taking second jobs as political consultants and impose “reasonable limits” on all outside work. By meeting his critics halfway, Boris Johnson hopes to outflank the Opposition, whose leader, Sir Keir Starmer, wants to ban all second jobs in the private sector (usually Conservatives) but not in the public sector (usually Labour).
However, many Tory backbenchers are furious with Downing Street for what they see as a “capitulation” and some may rebel. What began as a misguided attempt to save one MP from facing the music has resulted in a parliamentary cacophony, with no end in sight. The proposed compromise opens up the prospect of endless wrangling, because there is no obvious definition either of “political consultancy” or “reasonable limits”.
It seems likely that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, will become even more powerful, as the arbiter of MPs’ conduct outside as well as inside the Commons. This will hardly endear her to elected Members, who resent being judged by an unelected official who already earns substantially more than they do. Indeed, underlying the present controversy is the propensity of senior civil servants, whose salaries may be three or four times those of MPs, to curtail the earning capacities of politicians, who may have chosen their career precisely because it is compatible with a second job — especially as politics is uniquely unpredictable.
Former ministers, who make up a large proportion of the House, see consultancies as a legitimate way to maintain the standard of living to which they have become accustomed. The public — heavily influenced by journalists who are also often better paid than those they report on — may deplore this expectation as the avarice of a venal and entitled elite. Yet the history of Parliament is full of examples of multi-talented MPs who practised and even excelled in other professions.
Time was when the House of Commons (not to mention the Lords) comprised a significant proportion of the best writers, philosophers, historians, soldiers and scientists of the day. Some were content to treat Parliament as a sinecure, but many of these celebrities became genuine statesmen who used Parliament to change the course of history. Gladstone and Disraeli weren’t content to write books on theology and classics or bestselling novels respectively, but were two of our greatest Prime Ministers. Wellington didn’t only defeat Napoleon but was responsible for Catholic emancipation. Asquith wasn’t just the best barrister of his time, but reformed everything from pensions to Parliament. Churchill earned millions from writing and speaking during a lifetime in the Commons; his innumerable second jobs did not stop him serving his country like no other.
Many other polymaths who did not climb to the top of the greasy pole nevertheless made important contributions to public life. Our greatest Renaissance humanist, Thomas More, was Speaker of the Commons. The playwright Sheridan entertained the Commons as well as the theatre. The historian Thomas Babington Macaulay was the finest parliamentary orator of his era. The author of On Liberty, John Stuart Mill, was also the first MP to campaign for women’s suffrage. A.P. Herbert was not merely one of the wittiest satirists of the mid-20th century, but championed Private Members’ Bills, including one that reformed divorce by removing the requirement to prove adultery.
In more recent times, I have known several MPs who have contributed hugely through “second jobs”. The late Bryan Magee was a prolific writer and reformer, but will be remembered for his superlative Men of Ideas interviews with philosophers on the BBC. Sir Keith Joseph was a Fellow of All Souls who altered the course of politics by converting Margaret Thatcher to free market ideas. Over four decades in the Commons, Frank Field championed too many noble causes to list here; even terminal cancer has not yet silenced him. Jesse Norman’s books on Edmund Burke and Adam Smith have not deprived the House but added to its lustre. And there are many more examples one could add.
British society is full of people with more than one job. Why should Parliament be any different? As Burke (whom even Dr Johnson regarded as a genius) taught us, MPs sit there to represent us, not to act as our delegates. We are entitled to expect integrity from them, but should not complain if they give full rein to their talents on our behalf. By all means impose “reasonable limits” on second jobs, but remember that some of our greatest men and women of state have often been unreasonable.
