Does it matter who our MPs are?

Analysis

BBC

Government, Politics, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Classic theories of representative democracy argue that it’s the representation of ideas not our personal characteristics - such as age, gender, race or class - that should matter. But current debates about the diversity of our politicians suggest many of us are interested in who our MPs are and that they represent us.

We have more women and more ethnic minority MPs than ever before, we have had three women Prime Ministers and our first Prime Minister with an Asian heritage and yet attention has been drawn to the fact that the majority of the current cabinet, unlike the British population, attended private schools. Some have never worked outside of politics. Does this matter? Is personal background and history the most critical factor leading to good political representation? Do the backgrounds of our politicians influence voters’ choices at the ballot box? And how do political parties react?

Presenter: Rosie Campbell Producer: Vicki Broadbent Editor: Clare Fordham

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.6	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.4	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable
0:14.3	experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC
0:20.4	makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:36.0	BBC Sounds.
0:38.0	BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts.
0:41.0	Hello and thank you for listening to this episode of Analysis. podcasts. and what difference that makes to our politics for a couple of decades now.
0:55.0	So I wanted to make this program to explore with the experts how much MPs backgrounds have changed
1:01.0	and what difference that makes to our politics.
1:04.0	Does your MP's background matter to you?
1:14.0	First generation immigrant, you know, my parents emigrated here.
1:17.0	My mum's a pharmacist at some point when I was a teenager,
1:20.0	you know, she bought her own pharmacy.
1:22.0	She was also then a small business owner and I did all the accounts and the books.
1:26.0	I started off as a university college lecturer and then I did some writing and I was happy being a lecturer but I did feel I had a duty.
1:35.4	When I saw what was happening to my own community about unemployment and poverty I
1:39.4	felt I had some duty to do something about it.
1:41.6	When I was the poor kid growing up on a council
1:43.7	I didn't think I was poor, you know, I was just like everyone else,
	...

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