Life After Parliament an Uncommon Experience

LONDON —  It can’t be easy.

One day you’re a member of Parliament, with an office, a staff and the feeling of membership in an exclusive club. The next, at the whim of the voters, you’re unemployed.

“Being made redundant is a personal tragedy,” said Gyles Brandreth, a former Conservative lawmaker who lost his seat in the 1997 election.

“There’s nothing so unemployable as a man in his 50s who’s no longer on the winning side,” he added.

British politics is a tough world that traditionally favors the stiff upper lip over the helping hand. But lawmakers are growing increasingly aware of the difficulties many former politicians face adjusting to civilian life.

More than 600 legislators have left the House of Commons since 1987--half retired, the other half defeated at the polls. Ninety-nine departed after June’s general election, while the 1997 election ended 18 years of Conservative rule and the careers of 249 MPs.

Unlike retired members of the U.S. Congress, who retain use of the building’s facilities including the floor of the chamber, former British legislators have no access to Parliament--except to the cafeteria. Privacy legislation prevents their addresses and phone numbers from being disclosed even to former colleagues.

Just before the election, legislators passed a motion to establish a working group to help trace their departed colleagues and offer support to those in trouble.

“What happened to the MPs who left? Few people know,” Labor Party lawmaker Joe Ashton, one of the motion’s backers, told the House of Commons.

“We know that democracy demands many victims. In the nine Parliaments that I have served in, there have been many anecdotes of ex-Members who have suffered nervous breakdown, divorce, heart disease, alcoholism, depression, serious debt and even, in two cases, suicide. There are some sad, sorry stories.”

While many imagine that well-connected lawmakers retire to rich pastures, it is not always the case.

A study of former Canadian parliamentarians discovered that many found the transition to civilian life stressful, citing financial pressures, long periods away from their careers, and the public’s lack of respect for politicians.

Brandreth said many of his defeated colleagues “had no useful contacts, no experience of the real world.”

Dai Williams, an occupational psychologist who wrote a guide for parliamentarians after the 1997 election, said ousted lawmakers can expect to go through a transition period of six months to a year, taking in confusion, depression, crisis and recovery.

“At first they’ll be numb,” he said. “They’ll actually cope pretty well in the first two to three months.”

But after that, “they’re likely to run into quite sticky problems.”

Financial stress can be the worst burden. British lawmakers receive an annual salary of about $70,000--roughly half that of U.S. Congress members. When they leave the House of Commons they get a pension, which varies with age and years of service, along with a one-time resettlement grant of between 50% and 100% of their salary.

Many have two mortgages--on a constituency home and a London apartment--and need to find a new job quickly.

“Given the way the polls were going, I knew I was going to lose,” Brandreth said. “I had to dissuade my wife from putting our house on the market before the election. It went on the day after.”

Some politicians can fall back on careers in law or business. Brandreth quickly resumed a busy career as writer, broadcaster and television quiz-show guest.

Others face periods of unemployment. In the recent political memoir “Things Can Only Get Better,” John O’Farrell recounts how Labor lawmaker Alf Dubs lost his seat in the 1987 election and went down to the unemployment office the following Monday--dutifully listing his previous job, “Member of Parliament,” on the benefits form.

Dubs eventually rebounded. Today he sits--unpaid--in the House of Lords as Lord Dubs of Battersea and chairs the Broadcasting Standards Commission, a post that carries a $68,000 salary.

Williams says the keys to negotiating the transition are emotional support, economic security, good health and a positive attitude.

“It’s a very powerful personal development period, if they know what’s happening,” he said. “But it takes longer than people expect to get their heads around it.”

Ashton thinks Parliament needs to adopt a more professional attitude, acting “like every other big company in the country--running a personnel department to help people who have worked here for a large part of their life.”

Brandreth is less sympathetic.

“The essence of democracy is that you can kick people out. I think you’re a bit of an innocent if you can’t see it coming,” he said.