The Rise of the Local MP

Abstract

POLITICAL INSIGHT • MARCH 2023 M ost electoral systems are organised around the representation of place. Politicians are usually elected to represent particular geographic areas; these go by different labels – wards, constituencies, districts, ridings, precincts, regions – but while the name may change the principle does not. There is also often the expectation that those who are elected will have roots in the areas they represent, that they will in some way be ‘local’ to it. This can be made explicit in electoral law, with residency requirements for candidates and the like, while other times it is just a norm or a preference. One study of representation in Europe noted that the desire for local parliamentarians is so common that it is often ‘considered a natural order, bordering on banality’. Multiple studies in the UK have found that being local is one of the things most highly valued by voters when it comes to election candidates and you often see this desire for local candidates reflected in the The Rise of the Local MP