Hi! Welcome to ‘House of Commons Sense’ - I’m Richard – your author. Come with me each week as I take a ‘common sense’ look at news, events and issues in the UK - and translate that into how it affects ordinary, everyday people like you and me.
Over the last few years, I’ve noticed that the news has become more tribal and the commentary toxic. Distracted by ‘culture wars’ we seem to have lost our way on explaining how news, events, and issues in the UK affect ordinary, hardworking people. I say ‘jog-on’ to the jargon, and let’s get to the REAL issues of how everyday people are affected by the decisions that are being made in our country.
You’ll get a weekly ‘common sense’ insight from me on recent news topics, or particular ‘hot-button’ issues – with special one-off editions for significant breaking issues. You’ll be able to comment and share your own views and ideas too!
First up, I have been thinking about:
WHY SOCIAL MOBILITY IS THE KEY TO ENSURING WORKING CLASS VOICES ARE HEARD, NOT JUST AROUND THE DINNER TABLE, BUT AROUND THE CABINET TABLE
I grew up in a pretty ordinary, working-class family in inner-city Sheffield in the 90’s. Mum worked at the local optician, and my dad spray painted lorries and trains (painting the requested company design, he wasn’t out at night tagging them in graffiti).
I studied at the local Comp. It was the sort of School where resources were thin, opportunities were limited, and teachers struggled to maintain order. One time the school was shut for two days when one lad pulled two radiators off the wall, and the stairwells flooded. It may come as no surprise that it was placed in Ofsted ‘Special Measures’ as I was going into my GCSE years. Despite all this, I worked hard and came out with enough to go to the 6th Form College, and end-up getting the A-Levels to be the first generatation in my family to go to Uni, where I studied Law.
Like all families, there were both good times and bad growing up. When Dad got made redundant from one of his jobs, and the mortgage rates were sky-high, we really did get to know that Heinz made 57 different varieties of soup. It’s when I remember Dad saying to me “Make sure you get to be the one at work making the decisions – not having someone else’s decision impact you”. In his own way, I think Dad was describing ‘Social Mobility’ before ‘Social Mobility’ was a thing.
But why does Social Mobility matter?
It’s only when I got to Uni that I discovered the chasm that exists in terms of class, wealth, and privilege in this country. Classmates in my year had been to some of the most prestigious schools in the country, and had been afforded experiences and opportunities my Comp kid friends and I couldn’t have imagined in our wildest dreams; think acting classes from the Royal Shakespeare company in the purpose-built School Amphitheatre, and School trips to search for Queen Nefertiti’s tomb in Egypt. The furthest we got was the annual trip to the Viking Museum in York – which, whilst it has its charms, isn’t quite as impressive.
When it comes to applying for Graduate Law jobs, work experience is the key. And when it came to work experience, it was clear that these privileged Uni students already had the lead compared to the working-class ones. The elite schools have a ready-made network of parents and alumni that work as either Judges, Barristers or Solicitors. For the privileged kids, summer work experience could be obtained in Barrister’s Chambers with a few texts and a ‘good word’ put in by Mum or Dad. The closest I was to knowing a lawyer was watching Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde!
In the end I got my graduate law job after making COUNTLESS job applications, attending many interviews, and eventually convincing a National Law Firm to take a chance on me. 12 Years on, I recall the absolute slog and drain that the whole graduate process was for me – and the helplessness my parents felt who could offer no insights or provide any ‘inside track’.
But it’s not just confined to Law where privilege and access are the currency for success. The creative Arts are notoriously dominated by kids from private schools. This has led to a lack of working-class voices and talent in the TV industry, both behind the camera and in front of it.
But it’s politics where the class divide has real and significant impact for all of us.
The Sutton Trust has been tracking the educational backgrounds of the 650 M.Ps elected to the House of Commons. In it’s 2024 Report “Parliamentary Privilege”[1] it highlighted that, broadly, around 7% of the population are educated at private school. However, the educational backgrounds of the Government’s Cabinet members since the end of World War II have been made up of a significant number of privately educated individuals, well in excess of this figure (for example, Atlee (Lab) 25%; Eden (Con) 100%; Wilson (Lab) 35%; Thatcher (Con) 91%; Blair (Lab) 32%; Cameron (Con) 62%; Johnson (Con) 64%; Sunak (Con) 63%)).
Why does this matter? If most of the people in power are from vastly different backgrounds to the overall population, how can they really relate to the day-to-day issues ordinary, working people face? I think it’s reasonable to suggest that none of the Prime Ministers listed above will have struggled to feed their families on the 57 Varieties of Heinz Soup. That’s why it’s so important that the officials we elect speak with our voice and can understand and appreciate the issues you and I face each day, so that they make decisions that are going to be in our interest, not in the interest of an elitest few.
Some good news? Following the 2024 General Election, the Sutton Trust reports a significant change in the school and university backgrounds of the elected M.P.s: 63% went to Comprehensive School; the proportion of privately educated M.P.s is at the lowest level for 50 years and, crucially, just 8% of the new Government’s Cabinet attended private school.
One must hope that this sea-change in educational background will ensure that the voices of the working classes are being heard around the Cabinet Table and in the policies and laws that the new Government put into effect. The next 5 years will show if this is the case, or not.
However, if the Government’s current plans for wholesale reform of Employment Law for the benefit of workers (which I’ll be talking about next week) is anything to go by – it may be a good indicator that the voices of the working class might finally be getting heard.
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[1] Parliamentary Privilege 2024 - The Sutton Trust
Wonderful article. Really nice to read something abouy politics that makes sense