PPCs' Business Backgrounds: An Analysis

Prospective Parliamentary Candidates standing at the next general election: An analysis

This research was commissioned by the IPT to follow up on a previous joint IPT-ComRes report of April 2008, Do our lawmakers understand business? The previous research looked into the levels of business management or financial services experience held by current elected representatives across all six legislatures (the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the National Assembly of Wales, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the European Parliament) and concluded that only 13% of politicians could demonstrate five years or more business management or financial services experience.

With a general election just around the corner, the IPT wants to create a clearer picture of the next generation of MPs. For this reason, a new research project was commissioned to understand the backgrounds of the prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs) standing in the next general election.

The objective of this research project were to:

• Better understand the background of those entering Parliament at the next general election;
• Measure how business-aware future MPs are;
• Measure the ‘life outside politics’ and worldly experience of MPs;
• Identify individuals who would particularly benefit from participation in IPT programmes after the next general election;
• Be able to identify trends in the composition of Parliament.

Some of the key findings of the report are:

• Less than half the PPCs surveyed (48%) can demonstrate Business Management or Financial Services (BMFS) experience;
• PPCs standing in the next General Election have more BMFS experience than current MPs (as surveyed in April 2008);
• In comparison to the current House of Commons, there are a higher proportion of female PPCs standing for the three main political parties;
• The average age of a PPC standing in the next General Election is 43;
• Across the three main parties, Business Management or Financial Services roles dominate over current employment in other sectors.

The research was launched by the IPT in on 16 December 2009 at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Embankment Place. The speakers at the event were John Preston, senior Partner at PwC, The Rt Hon Richard Caborn MP and Mr Mark Hendrick MP. The IPT would like to thank PricewaterHouseCoopers for hosting the launch.

A PDF copy of the report can be downloaded here.