Friday 25 April 2014

Local Seats For Local People

Defined as having been born in the constituency or within 20 kilometres (12 and half miles) of it, or as having gone to primary or secondary school within those parameters, or as having lived within them for at least five years prior to seeking election, 63 per cent of MPs are local, including 82 per cent of Lib Dems, 73 per cent of Labourites, and 51 per cent of Conservatives.
That gives Labour, as an absolute figure, the most local MPs in Parliament. But all three proportions are rising with each successive General Election.
Moreover, 67 per cent of Labour MPs selected from all-women shortlists are local. That system has given this seat an MP who was born in Esh Winning, who presumably went to school nearby, and who has lived in Lanchester for 20 if not 30 years, or possibly even longer.
Much to my amusement, it has also given the Armstrongs' old seat a Left MP, one of several Left gains in the North East in 2010, with at least one more on course to be made in 2015. Left of me, perhaps. But a long way from what went before, certainly here.
Of course, locality can still be the wrong question. But if it is the question, then here is the answer.

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