Why Do Members Of Parliament Have Such A High Percentage Of Criminal Convictions

[m williamson]

During a discussion with someone about Trump being allowed to run for President from a prison cell I got to wondering what the position is in the UK.

 The most up to date information available is provided by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority ( IPSA ) and is for 2012.

 

At that time there were only 650 Members of Parliament and 243 of them had criminal records, some of which had involved prison sentences.

That was 43% of sitting MPs back then. Apparently, going on the response to the question by IPSA in this link it is no longer a requirement to provide such information.

https://www.theipsa.org.uk/freedom-of-information/2018-19/cas-130967

 

As regards the UK population in general, 27% of working age adults have a criminal conviction, which means that MPs have a significantly higher percentage of people who 

have broke the law among their ranks.

Bearing in mind that Parliament is the supreme law making body in the UK and that MPs form that Parliament I can't help feeling there's something slightly incongruous about

the arrangement.

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, m williamson said:

During a discussion with someone about Trump being allowed to run for President from a prison cell I got to wondering what the position is in the UK.

 The most up to date information available is provided by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority ( IPSA ) and is for 2012.

 

At that time there were only 650 Members of Parliament and 243 of them had criminal records, some of which had involved prison sentences.

That was 43% of sitting MPs back then. Apparently, going on the response to the question by IPSA in this link it is no longer a requirement to provide such information.

https://www.theipsa.org.uk/freedom-of-information/2018-19/cas-130967

 

As regards the UK population in general, 27% of working age adults have a criminal conviction, which means that MPs have a significantly higher percentage of people who 

have broke the law among their ranks.

Bearing in mind that Parliament is the supreme law making body in the UK and that MPs form that Parliament I can't help feeling there's something slightly incongruous about

the arrangement.

 

Very interesting figures mate.

It seem that when parliament sits,  it could be the biggest gathering of rogues since Al Capone's days,  short of lunchtime in a max security nick.

I do have to agree with some posters who say    "Who needs to import criminals"

 

[m williamson]

1 hour ago, Organgrinder said:

Very interesting figures mate.

It seem that when parliament sits,  it could be the biggest gathering of rogues since Al Capone's days,  short of lunchtime in a max security nick.

I do have to agree with some posters who say    "Who needs to import criminals"

 

Have to say that the number surprised me. When you bear in mind that a speeding offence isn't automatically regarded as a criminal offence and wouldn't count as such unless there were other circumstances ( such as the amount of MPH being driven over the limit ) it makes you wonder what some of these offences were for.

Being convicted of demonstrating -  providing no violence was involved - shouldn't bar anyone from office in my view, but 243 out of 650 does seem a lot.

[Baron99]

I was always led to believe that if a person was given a sentence of one year or more, they were barred from being an MP? 

[El Cid]

12 hours ago, m williamson said:

Have to say that the number surprised me.

 

Its just the person asking the question that stated the figure of "243 of them had criminal records" we dont know if that is true.

[Axe]

46 minutes ago, El Cid said:

Its just the person asking the question that stated the figure of "243 of them had criminal records" we dont know if that is true.

Fake figure.  

[m williamson]

2 hours ago, El Cid said:

Its just the person asking the question that stated the figure of "243 of them had criminal records" we dont know if that is true.

IPSA is the independent Parliamentary Standards Authority created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 mainly as a response to the expenses scandal.

 

In that link it says  In 2012 reports confirmed that 243 had criminal records. 

[RollingJ]

11 minutes ago, m williamson said:

IPSA is the independent Parliamentary Standards Authority created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 mainly as a response to the expenses scandal.

 

In that link it says  In 2012 reports confirmed that 243 had criminal records. 

So that was the position in 2012 - not 2023

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Axe said:

Fake figure.  

Give us the real one then.

3 hours ago, El Cid said:

Its just the person asking the question that stated the figure of "243 of them had criminal records" we dont know if that is true.

We can if we find out instead of criticising him.

 

So 243 is the correct figure from 2012 instead of 2023.     That's just as much a disgrace anyway.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Organgrinder

[Axe]

20 minutes ago, Organgrinder said:

Give us the real one then.

 

Common sense tells me the figure is fake.   If the figure had been true the credible media would have had a field day reporting the statistic.