ORBIT-OnlineRepository ofBirkbeckInstitutionalTheses Enabling Open Access to Birkbeck’s Research Degree output Bring in the professionals: how pre-parliamentary po- litical experience affects political careers in the House of Commons https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/40042/ Version: Full Version Citation: Allen, Peter (2014) Bring in the professionals: how pre- parliamentary political experience affects political careers in the House of Commons. [Thesis] (Unpublished) c 2020 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copy- right law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit Guide Contact: email 1 Bring in the professionals: how pre- parliamentary political experience affects political careers in the House of Commons Peter Allen Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics Department of Politics Birkbeck, University of London 2 I declare that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Signed…………………………………. Peter Allen 3 Abstract In this thesis I use original empirical data to examine the impact of the political experience of MPs before they enter parliament on their careers once inside the House of Commons. The contribution I make to knowledge is twofold. First, I build on existing literature in the field by developing a stand-alone classification of pre-parliamentary political experience that distinguishes between experience gained on the local level, for example as a local councillor, and experience gained on the national level, working for an MP or in the head office of a political party. Second, I empirically operationalise this classification and support it adopting quantitative research techniques. Using a cohort study of those MPs first elected at the 1997 general election, I find that those MPs with national-level pre- parliamentary political experience are more likely to reach cabinet-level frontbench positions while MPs with local-level experience are more likely to remain backbenchers or reach only the lower levels of government. I highlight the ways in which national-level pre- parliamentary political experience interacts with other political and personal factors to provide a small group of MPs with a preferential parliamentary career path relative to their colleagues. I conclude by placing my findings in the context of comparative research on political parties, reflecting that certain types of party structure privilege specific types of pre-parliamentary political experience. I also consider the findings in light of debates on political representation and professionalisation, and highlight directions for future research in this area. 4 Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 3 Contents ........................................................................................................................ 4 List of figures ................................................................................................................. 7 List of tables .................................................................................................................. 8 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 10 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 11 The core argument of the thesis ............................................................................................ 13 Why care? .............................................................................................................................. 15 Summary of the thesis ........................................................................................................... 20 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 26 Chapter One - Literature review ................................................................................... 28 Who becomes an MP? ........................................................................................................... 28 What is the occupational background of MPs? ..................................................................... 29 Patterns of pre-parliamentary political experience ............................................................... 32 Local experience .................................................................................................................... 34 Local government in the United Kingdom – two types of councillor? .................................. 37 National, Westminster-based experience ............................................................................. 38 Scotland and Wales – similar trends? .................................................................................... 41 Summary – a convergence of political and occupational? .................................................... 41 By what process do individuals become MPs? ...................................................................... 42 Understanding candidate selection: the theory of supply and demand ............................... 43 Candidate selection in the Conservative Party ...................................................................... 45 Candidate Selection in the Labour Party ............................................................................... 48 Candidate selection in the Liberal Democrats ....................................................................... 49 Similarities across the three main parties ............................................................................. 51 What do MPs do? ................................................................................................................... 52 Frontbench career paths in the Commons ............................................................................ 55 5 Path dependency and the effect of pre-parliamentary political experience ......................... 59 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 60 Chapter Two – Theorising the link between political experience and political careers .... 61 The existing classification - political experience as occupation ............................................. 62 The Parliamentary Labour Party ............................................................................................ 69 The Liberal Democrats ........................................................................................................... 72 How have these findings been utilised and what can they tell us? ....................................... 74 What can they not tell us? ..................................................................................................... 76 A distinct classification of political experience ...................................................................... 77 The utility of political experience – the local and the national ............................................. 78 Summary and conclusion ....................................................................................................... 86 Chapter Three – Methods: studying political experience ............................................... 89 The General Election of 1997 - one of a kind? ....................................................................... 90 Labour: One Member One Vote & Localism .......................................................................... 91 The Labour majority and unexpected MPs ............................................................................ 93 Why a cohort study? .............................................................................................................. 94 The data ................................................................................................................................. 95 Measuring political experience .............................................................................................. 96 Other factors to consider ..................................................................................................... 101 Measuring ‘success’ – the hierarchy of frontbench politics ................................................ 107 The structure of British government ................................................................................... 107 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 109 Chapter Four – Political experience and political careers – establishing an effect ......... 110 The regression models ......................................................................................................... 111 A note on statistical significance .......................................................................................... 112 Backbench or frontbench? ................................................................................................... 118 Cabinet or not? .................................................................................................................... 123 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 126 Chapter Five - Mapping the preferential political career