The politics of MPs pay

Judge, David (1984) The politics of MPs pay. Parliamentary Affairs, 37 (1). pp. 59-75.

Full text not available in this repository.Request a copy

Abstract

How much is an MP worth? Who decides? Throughout the centuries there has been a profusion of partial, uncomfortable, embarrassing and often contradictory answers, but satisfactory and universally acceptable ones still remain undiscovered. That this is so is hardly surprising for such answers rest upon fundamental premises about politics, economics and society: political assumptions about the role and style of the representative and the nature of his workload; economic assumptions about the comparability of wages and causes of inflation; and societal assumptions about the relative status and rewards of different occupations. Unless or until agreement is reached upon these elemental matters, then, consensus over the correct remuneration for MPs will continue to elude parliamentarians