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Running for election while running a practice

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21st Apr 2015
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Long-standing AccountingWEB member Bruce Roberts shares his insights into what it's like being an accountant, and a candidate running in the 2015 General Election. 

Having stood in the 2010 General Election as a Liberal Democrat in a traditional Labour stronghold, when asked by the local party if I would stand again I should probably have said 'no'.

It is a pretty thankless role. Most of the public see you as someone in it purely for your own gain, it carries a significant amount of professional risk (when all said and done a lot of my clients are not Liberal Democrats), and even friends tend to think you have lost your senses. On top of that it takes a lot of time and can be enormously stressful.

Despite all that I decided to say 'yes'. Even in a seat that is unlikely to produce a winning result to have a good quality candidate is important for the party's future prospects.

The local party felt I was the person for the job and the flattery implicit in that probably swayed my decision to stand.

As I am a sole trader with a significant client list and six employees, juggling work and an election campaign is a tricky business. I cannot simply take a month off work as many candidates do, therefore managing my time is most critical.

Clients will not take kindly to being told I am unavailable because I am out canvassing. Luckily I have very committed, skilled and flexible staff and they all pull together to make it work.

So the tasks of answering emails, canvassing, delivering leaflets, speaking at hustings, designing/approving literature, attending meetings, liaising with volunteers and party officials and writing the occasional blog post is mixed with reviewing accounts, preparing tax returns and meeting clients.

Actually, that omits the most difficult bit - keeping up with endless policy announcements and manifesto commitments from your own party and the other parties just in case somebody asks your views. It is a bit like Budget Day every day for about a month!

Despite all the negatives, there is a very special feeling that comes with standing up for what you believe and putting your head above the parapet. You just have to keep reminding yourself that it will be all over in a few weeks and normality will return. That is, unless the electorate see the light and Westminster beckons!

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By Duhamel
21st Apr 2015 12:33

What do you tell your clients?
Surely some of them wonder what will happen if you win your seat and become a full time MP? You surely wouldn't be able to continue to run the practice?

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By Swimmingagainstthe Tide
21st Apr 2015 14:36

Client worries

Both staff and clients have legitimate worries.  All I can do is reassure them that if I was elected I would ensure that they were looked after and that there would be an orderly transition to new working arrangement.  I like to think I would still be able to be involved as an accountant, even if only in an advisory capacity but public attitudes to MP's having 'second jobs' might make that impossible.

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By andy.partridge
21st Apr 2015 22:50

I wonder
I can't help but wonder how MPs can give so little attention to their first job that they have time for a second. Genuinely interested to know how that works.

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By Swimmingagainstthe Tide
23rd Apr 2015 10:29

MP's second jobs

All the MP's I know, or have had contact with, seem to be incredibly hard working and commited to their role as MP.  Indeed it is hard to imagine that they could find time for anything else.  However, I am not sure that is healthly for parliament.  The full time nature of being an MP at the moment and the public hatred of MP's outside interests means that soon we will have a House of Commons that is full of career politicians (typically leaving school, going to Oxbridge, becoming an MP's reasearcher or have a spell in PR and then finding a safe seat).  Do we want our politicians to be this detached from the real world and to have no worthwhile experience of anything outside the narrow political sphere?   

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Replying to andrew1211:
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By andy.partridge
24th Apr 2015 10:39

I disagree with the premise

BSSRoberts wrote:

Do we want our politicians to be this detached from the real world and to have no worthwhile experience of anything outside the narrow political sphere?   

What is wrong about getting the real world experience before moving into politics but devoting oneself to the new career? 'Public hatred' (your phrase) comes from doublespeak.
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By Wiganer Elaine
23rd Apr 2015 11:42

Time to think outside the box?

Currently we have a "first past the post" system to vote for the MP/political party to run the country/work for their constituency.

Maybe we should try and find another way that will give us better qualified MPS in terms of their abilities to run the country:

Firstly, I propose that there should be a separation between a constituency MP and the party that runs the country; the constituency MP works on behalf of the constituents IN the constituency; they would only be required to go to London say once or twice a month so no need for second homes in London. The constituency MP should also be allowed to keep their original job.

The country has its various constituencies as it does now but in order to vote for the party to run the country, there should be new areas which are equal in voting size - maybe only around say 350 voting areas. The MP standing in these areas are the career politicians who live in London - again, no need for a second home in a constituency. These politicians are the ones who form the political government.

The constituency MPs only vote on matters that are say amendments to, or something that was not in, the manifesto that was used to get the career politicians in power.

People then have two votes: one for the party they would like to govern and one for the person they think best for their constituency.

"Career" politicians have to have been a constituency MP for at least 2 terms before they can be considered to move onto being a career politician.

Career politicians are paid more but are not allowed a second job.

Basically those who want to run the country have to prove themselves in the real world before being let loose in the corridors of power.

This by the way is just an idea in progress - it is not yet a definitive answer!

 

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