Parliamentary assistant

Last updated

In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the UK Parliament or in their MP's constituency office. [1]

Contents

Duties

The duties of parliamentary assistants vary significantly depending on the MPs they work for and their position in Parliament; but generally they facilitate the day-to-day working life of their MP and make it as efficient as possible. [2] The office in which a parliamentary assistant is based may determine the type of work they do.

Alternative titles and pay

MPs may distinguish between parliamentary assistants in terms of seniority. For example, some MPs differentiate between parliamentary assistants and senior parliamentary assistants. Parliamentary assistants may also be called parliamentary researchers if they are principally tasked with conducting research.

Salaries for MPs' staff are set by the MP they work for, but must be within the bounds of the pay scales set by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Controversies

In recent years, there has been controversy over the tradition of MPs hiring their family members as parliamentary assistants. In 2017, it was revealed that one in five MPs employed a member of their family, despite the practice being banned for new MPs before the 2017 general election. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Bellingham, Baron Bellingham</span> British politician

Henry Campbell Bellingham, Baron Bellingham, is a British Conservative politician who sits in the House of Lords and former barrister. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Norfolk in 1983. He lost his seat in 1997, but regained it in 2001 and retained it until standing down in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clive Betts</span> British Labour politician

Clive James Charles Betts is a British Labour Party politician and former economist, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1992 to 2010 and is the current MP for the successor seat of Sheffield South East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Loughton</span> British Conservative politician

Timothy Paul Loughton, is a British politician and former banker who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worthing and Shoreham since the 1997 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families from 2010 to 2012 and has twice served as the Acting Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2016 and 2021, following the respective resignations of Keith Vaz and Yvette Cooper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Hammond</span> British Conservative politician

Stephen William Hammond is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wimbledon since 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Pritchard (politician)</span> British Conservative politician

Mark Andrew Pritchard PC is a British Conservative politician and consultant. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for The Wrekin in Shropshire since the 2005 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gavin Barwell</span> British Conservative politician

Gavin Laurence Barwell, Baron Barwell is a British politician and former Downing Street Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Theresa May. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament for Croydon Central from 2010 until 2017.

The basic annual salary of a Member OF Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons is £84,144, as of April 2022. In addition, MPs are able to claim allowances to cover the costs of running an office and employing staff, and maintaining a constituency residence or a residence in London. Additional salary is paid for appointments or additional duties, such as ministerial appointments, being a whip, chairing a select committee or chairing a Public Bill committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloe Smith</span> British Conservative politician

Chloe Rebecca Smith is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from September to October 2022. She previously served as Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich North since 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Doyle-Price</span> British Conservative politician

Jacqueline Doyle-Price is a British Conservative Party politician and former civil servant. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thurrock in the 2010 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth Johnson</span> British politician

Gareth Alan Johnson is a British politician and former lawyer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously served as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from February to September 2022 and Assistant Government Whip from 2018 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022. Johnson was first elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dartford, winning the seat from Labour. He has been supportive of Leave Means Leave, a Eurosceptic pressure group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Tomlinson</span> British Conservative politician

Justin Paul Tomlinson is a British Conservative Party politician and former marketing executive who served as Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health from 2019 to 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Swindon since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Stephens</span> Scottish politician

Christopher Charles Stephens is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow South West since the 2015 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Mann (politician)</span> British Conservative politician

Scott Leslie Mann is a British Conservative politician and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Cornwall since 2015. He currently serves as a Government Whip. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Growth and Rural Affairs from September to October 2022. Previously he represented the Wadebridge West ward on Cornwall Council between 2009 and 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corri Wilson</span> Scottish politician (born 1965)

Corraine "Corri" Wilson is an Alba Party politician who was previously the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock from 2015 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Caulfield</span> British Conservative politician

Maria Colette Caulfield is a British politician and nurse serving as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women since October 2022. She served as Minister of State for Health from July to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Ansell</span> British politician

Caroline Julie Porte Ansell is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Eastbourne since the 2019 general election. She was first elected as Eastbourne's MP at the 2015 general election, but was defeated at the 2017 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Jones</span> Welsh Labour politician

Gerald Jones is a Welsh Labour Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney since 2015 and has served as a Shadow Welsh Office minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Double</span> British Conservative politician

Stephen Daniel Double is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Austell and Newquay since 2015. He has been serving as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since October 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Keegan</span> British Conservative politician and Secretary of State for Education

Gillian Keegan is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Education. A member of the Conservative Party, she previously served as Minister of State for Care and Mental Health from 2021 to 2022 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa in 2022. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Chichester since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Mangnall</span> British politician

Anthony James Holland Mangnall is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Totnes since 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he worked in shipbroking and as a special adviser prior to his parliamentary career.

References

  1. ↑ "Speaker's Parliamentary Placement Scheme". UK Parliament.
  2. ↑ "What is a Parliamentary Assistant?". Guto Bebb.
  3. ↑ Bradshaw, Pete Sherlock and Paul (July 31, 2017). "Fifth of MPs still employ family member" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.