The campaign for Real Government

If there is one job which should command a person’s undivided loyalties, it is surely the job of representing us.

An MP's salary is £59,095 which is more than double the UK average of £22,411. That's surely enough money to get by on. And if it's not, then perhaps you're not suited to being in parliament. They don't call it a life of public service for nothing.

Being an MP is a full time job. You can be pretty certain that other employers don't offer their staff the chance to choose their own hours, so that they can supplement their income elsewhere. Well, voters are the MP's employers and we should be demanding a fair days work for a more than fair days pay.

Is it really all that important? Well yes. George Monbiot's article "Paid-up Members" neatly outlines the problems that member's interests generate of which these are just some:

• If your job is guaranteed regardless of performance there's a permanent incentive to spend as little time doing it as possible.
  
• Do we really believe the MPs who claim to work 100+ hour weeks?
• Aditional (universally prestigious) work elevates MPs into a super-rich minority far removed from the people they claim to represent.
• If we're paying them only a tiny fraction of their income, where do their loyalties really lie?
  

The Register of Member's Interests is supposed to be a protection for the public from MP's conflicts of interest but really it just adds a veneer of legitimacy to conduct we shouldn't be tolerating.

Fortunately it's not all doom and gloom. This is still a democracy of sorts and in all likelihood we are going to have an election this year. So it's the perfect opportunity to pose your MPs and candidates an interview question. "Are you going to treat representing us as a full time job?"

This isn't a party political issue - part time MPs come in all colours, but if you're a swinging voter (and in fact even if you're not), what better issue is there to decide who to vote for, than who will work hardest for you?

Starting with the MPs and moving on to the candidates as they are announced we'll be asking our would be representatives for a commitment to treat their position with the respect it deserves. We'll be posting the results on the site and we'd like you to do the same.