What do voters want from their local MP?
- Author(s)
- Nick Vivyan, Markus Wagner
- Abstract
This article summarises the findings from a study of what constituents want from their local Member of Parliament. We make use of a survey technique known as conjoint analysis, wherein we present a national sample of British voters with profiles of hypothetical MPs who vary randomly in their characteristics, activities and behaviour. We find that voters like MPs who are independent from the party line and who do not focus exclusively on national policy work. MPs' gender and experience matter far less to constituents. Overall, voters want a Parliament made up of strong-minded MPs who see their role as that of a constituency representative. This has important implications for parliamentary democracy in Britain.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Government
- External organisation(s)
- Durham University
- Journal
- The Political Quarterly
- Volume
- 86
- Pages
- 33-40
- No. of pages
- 8
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12128
- Publication date
- 01-2015
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 506014 Comparative politics
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/what-do-voters-want-from-their-local-mp(a810f861-1984-4d8e-929e-da5614c5a4df).html