WWhen Conservative MP Elliot Colburn told Parliament he had attempted suicide earlier this year, he was surprised by the reaction he got. Politicians across the house praised his bravery, MPs applauded him, Keir Starmer shook his hand and Rishi Sunak hugged him. But what was even more surprising was what happened next. Eight members of Congress approached him and told him they had reached the same place of despair. As far as Colburn knows, none of them have spoken publicly about their experiences.
It takes courage for any of us to speak publicly about our mental health, but for politicians there are additional considerations. Our political culture is characterized by unwavering strength, independence, omniscience, and unrealistic expectations that never waver. Any cracks in the armor can be unfairly interpreted as weaknesses. And of course, you can also give ammunition to your enemies. Some of them may be in your own party. Given the level of deprivation suffered by so many people in the country, many will be keenly aware of the privilege their work brings and will not want to distract from more pressing issues.
I recently spoke to Colburn for the BBC’s inquiry into MPs’ mental health. His words to me reflect what I believe is a broken system built on unforgivable expectations. “My job is the main reason I didn’t ask for help or talk to anyone,” he told me. “I didn’t expect people to be particularly sympathetic. When it comes to the mental health of members of Congress, we’re not necessarily seen as having the same set of emotions as other people on a human level. not.”
Relatively little is known about the extent of mental illness among sitting members of Congress. The survey on MPs who will resign at the next election is being carried out jointly by the Non-Political Foundation, Compassion in Politics and 50:50 Parliament, and early results have been passed to the BBC. Their number is relatively small. Members of Congress have become wary of responding to public surveys after many institutions ostensibly used them to shame MPs for their responses, or lack thereof. Nevertheless, we can see an alarming situation emerging. Of the 12 people who answered the question whether their work as an MP had had a negative impact on their mental health, eight said it had. And the lawmakers all highlighted some common stressors.
Many politicians have told us that despite the public’s expectations, they often feel completely powerless to change anything. Government work is highly centralized, tightly controlled by the executive branch, and a winner-take-all style of politics means that backbenchers have little chance of influencing legislation.
The SNP’s Philippa Whitford, who will resign as an MP at the next election, says politics at Westminster has fallen apart since leaving the EU. “I think that’s especially due to holding the government accountable and the balance of power changing. Members of Congress have lost power.”
Across the aisle, Conservative MP Charles Walker, a pioneering mental health advocate who has spoken openly about his own struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), said the House of Commons was a “mausoleum of disappointment”. told me. The disappointment is easy to understand. Over the past decade or so, only 5% of backbench bills have made it onto the statute book.
Of course, Congress does not exist in a vacuum. One former Conservative cabinet minister, who asked not to be identified, told me: If the very places where people want change are suffering from the same malaise, a kind of national nervous breakdown, then we have a problem. ”
From the perspective of Congress as a workplace, it would be difficult to design a more effective system for making people sick. The adversarial nature of Congress pits politicians against each other, triggering a fight-or-flight response. Even the design of the Commons, with rows of MPs facing each other and the two speakers at the dispatch box deliberately kept two swords’ length apart, is more suited to a gladiatorial contest than a logical debate. There is.
Then there is the flogging system, which in other circumstances would be sanctioned as a system of bribery and coercion. Former Conservative Party deputy leader Anne Milton agrees that it cannot continue in its current form. In my opinion, coercion, control, all of that has no place in modern government,” she told me. Added to that is the weekly Punch and Judy show, aka Prime Minister’s Questions, which distorts the public’s perception of politicians and shows nothing about the bipartisan cooperation going on behind the scenes. yeah.
Where did this come from? I first reported on politics for his BBC when Margaret Thatcher was still in power. I’ve spent nearly 40 years observing Westminster, and I’ve found that tradition exists as a haven for bias and behavior that would be dismissed as abusive and unprofessional in any other workplace. I became convinced that I did.
Debbie Abrahams, Labor co-chair of the all-party group Compassionate Politics, said:The goal is to win something, whether it’s an election. [or] Voting… So it’s all about power. It’s not about supporting happiness. ”
Unpublished House of Commons data shared with the BBC underlines the growing mental health crisis within Westminster. Three years ago mental health was not in the top five reasons why MPs use Parliament’s health and social care services, but now it is in the top two reasons MPs seek help. That’s good news if someone who needs help is asking for it, but treating the symptoms without addressing the cause doesn’t solve anything.
I believe we urgently need to consider how politics affects politicians. With existential challenges such as the climate crisis, war, and mass migration looming on our nation’s horizon, politicians must stay at the top to manage a fully functioning and effective system of governance and ensure that politics is psychologically sound. must be.
So what can you do? It’s not rocket science. An independent human resources system, mandatory training, legally enforceable standards of conduct and an independent ethics committee to support MPs in governance and leadership. Electronic voting. This will allow MPs to vote in a modern, fit-for-purpose voting room in Parliament House without having to be shoved, pushed or coaxed by their colleagues. Reviewing outdated wording. Measures to prevent private members from speaking about bills. A system designed to maximize efficiency and reduce conflict.
Westminster politics is at rock bottom. The question is whether or not to surrender. Will you let go of the habits and behaviors that led you there? The stakes are high for all of us who care about democracy. And if nothing changes, they will only get higher.
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