We are driving the some of the best politicians out of politics

As she sat down recently for our conversation for The House magazine, Lib Dem MP Heidi Allen shared just how tired she was. Days later, as a December election looked all but certain, she

announced that she would not be re-standing.

At every election a number MPs choose to stand down, but this time around it feels like more than the usual changing of the guard. One-by-one, a succession of mostly moderate politicians

have decided they have had enough of Westminster. They include Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan, former Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Theresa May’s de facto deputy David Liddington, one-time

Labour leadership contender Owen Smith and Change UK MP Anne Coffey.

In their statements announcing their decision, many of the women standing down cited the toxic political atmosphere that we are currently operating in. In a letter to her constituents, Allen

said she was “exhausted by the invasion into my privacy and the nastiness and intimidation that has become commonplace.” Morgan, meanwhile, spoke of “the clear impact on my family” and “the

abuses involved” in being an MP.

Many will not be sympathetic towards the protestations of MPs. Much of the public considers our politicians well-rewarded and privileged. And, to a large extent, they are. What is more, they

chose to do this.

But politicians of all stripes now work in increasingly hostile conditions, barracked in their workplace and harassed at home. There are stories of panic alarms and filled-in letterboxes in

order to keep safe.

Anna Soubry, who is aiming to stay in Parliament, shared a card on Twitter that had been sent to her partner. It was a condolence card. Inside, it had the message “your treasonous bitch of a

partner will be gone very soon”. Most ominously, it added: “Note the postcode, we are on your doorstep.” Apparently a similarly pleasant piece of post had been sent to Soubry’s mother last

year. How many of us would choose to work in a role where our friends and family were subjected to such horrors? One of those stepping down in a few days time told me that it would have

“destroyed” them to re-stand. That is what our politics is doing to people. Destroying them.

Those subjecting politicians to abuse may feel like they are having their say or believe that because MPs are public servants we have the right to say whatever we want to them. However, all

this behaviour actually achieves is driving good, talented people out of politics. It allows mediocrity and mendacity to rise, and reduces the talent pool looking to enter in the first

place. It also makes MPs less accessible, as they need to reduce advertising for public meetings and suchlike in order to protect themselves.

We in the media do have to bear some responsibility for this. Screaming tabloid front pages that lead people to brand MPs traitors. Partisan new media outlets that whip up their supporters.

None of it has anything to do with holding power to account, and it leads to this polarised, frenzied atmosphere that we see manifesting itself everyday on College Green and in MPs

letterboxes. It is an atmosphere in which Jacob Rees-Mogg (accompanied by his son,) and Diane Abbott are screamed at by protesters when leaving Parliament, and Anna Soubry is heckled as a

Nazi mid television interview.

When Jo Cox was murdered we all said we’d raise the tone of political debate. That we’d do better. We’ve failed.

The likes of Heidi Allen, Nicky Morgan, Amber Rudd et al will undoubtedly go on to have successful careers outside of the Commons, but we, the public, do ourselves a disservice by forcing

them into that position. We have never needed intelligent, moderate, sensible people in our politics more.

The next six weeks are likely to prove a watershed moment in the British public’s relationship with politicians, but the likelihood of the new intake being an improvement on those we are

driving out seems slim.

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