Why so many MPs are calling it quits
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 10 August 2023
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With an election just around the corner, politicians are quitting Westminster in their droves, many of them under 40. Is the job broken – or are they just jumping before they're pushed? We meet the leavers and reluctant remainers.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's August, Parliament is in recess, so MPs are away in their constituencies, knocking |
| 0:11.0 | on doors, shmosing locals, an election isn't that far around the corner, remember. |
| 0:16.4 | With that in mind though, some will probably be asking themselves, is this the life for |
| 0:21.0 | me? |
| 0:22.0 | Do I really want to keep doing this? |
| 0:25.5 | Why are you leaving? |
| 0:27.4 | I think the real question is, why have I stayed so long? |
| 0:30.9 | Why are you leaving us? |
| 0:31.9 | Well, that's a good question but, well, I've loved my time in politics and I've enjoyed |
| 0:37.0 | well, not every moment of it, but most of it. |
| 0:39.2 | So it'll be 32 years at Westminster, I think that's a good shift. |
| 0:44.3 | I think I've got a chance to do something else in life. |
| 0:49.2 | 74 MPs have said they're not going to stand at the next election, most of them conservatives |
| 0:54.2 | but not all. |
| 0:55.2 | If you want to change things, then go for it, but I'm not going to pretend that it's |
| 1:00.0 | all going to be sunshine and roses, it is a horrible place to be. |
| 1:03.8 | I wanted to be a member of Parliament when I was a teenager and I only came into Parliament |
| 1:08.4 | in 2015, but I felt it was right that I signaled my intent that I would be standing down |
| 1:13.6 | at the next election. |
| 1:19.0 | Some might be thinking, better to jump before I'm pushed, but with the state of the opinion |
| 1:23.2 | polls at the moment, but others have a good chance of keeping their seats, and yet are |
| 1:28.4 | still quitting, even in their thirties. |
... |
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