zlacker

> They're not brain surgeons or rocket scientists

Yeah, voters don't want to pay MPs more. Yet when voters are asked, they want highly intelligent, motivated people. They want them to have technical expertise, which means time spent in higher education. Then they want them to work a full time job in Parliament during the week, but also be open to constituency concerns on the weekend. And once all of this is pointed out, voters concede that maybe MPs deserve to be paid on par with professionals like doctors. (It's a different matter that UK doctors are underpaid).

> But I believe the average gravy train bumps this up 3X with extras.

Citation needed. They're on a shorter leash now with expenses. Don't go citing one or two bad apples either, show us what the median MP claims as expenses. According to you, it should be around £170k a year.

In general, politicians and their aides in the UK are underpaid. Most capable people find they're better off working in Canary Wharf or elsewhere in London. An example is the head of economic policy for the Labour Party earning £50k while writing policy for a £2 trn economy. (https://www.economist.com/britain/2023/01/19/british-politic...)

>>nindal+(OP)
Your first point has always interested me, as it's unclear how much technical expertise these people have. They just employ Special Advisors to do the 'difficult' work for them (again, something not included in their expenses but, of course, is a benefit). And the manner in which reshuffles happen when the Education Secretary suddenly becomes the Enviroment Secretary whilst having no experience of either.

Anyway, I'm very sure there are good MP's, but I'll not go so far as to say these people are underpaid.

I plugged the question into AI ... see below. Not to mention the subsidised "everything". Holidays in mates villas (and what mates, eh). The "director" positions on various companies, and, and ... it's not just the monetary value of these things. It's an absolute gravy train.

Generated Hypothetical Answers: we can provide some hypothetical scenarios based on varying levels of responsibility:

Scenario 1: Backbench MP without additional roles:

    Salary: £86,584
    Maximum Expense Claims:
        Office: £85,000
        Accommodation (Constituency only): £9,300
        Travel: Assuming moderate travel expenses, let's estimate £10,000
        Other Expenses: £5,000

Total: £86,584 + £85,000 + £9,300 + £10,000 + £5,000 = £195,884

Scenario 2: MP with Ministerial role and chairing a committee:

    Salary: £86,584 + Ministerial salary (e.g., £50,000)
    Expense Claims: Similar to Scenario 1, let's use the same estimates

Committee Chair allowance: £11,600

Total: £86,584 + £50,000 + £85,000 + £9,300 + £10,000 + £5,000 + £11,600 = £257,484

Remember: These are just hypothetical examples, and the actual value for any individual MP can be significantly higher or lower depending on their specific circumstances.

>>nindal+(OP)
Voters want people representatives that will work out of civic duty. but is H.O.A.'s have taught us anything its that the people who claim to be acting out of civic duty to make a better place are mostly petty tyrants.

sure it would be nice if we could have Aristotelian philosopher kings style politicians but that's not human nature.