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ELECTED SOCIAL WORKERS
Tony Blair is a generous fellow. This week he is reported to be about to increase the amount of taxpayers' money that goes to opposition parties, helping them to attack Labour more effectively. The Con- servatives are suspicious; they believe that most of the cash will go to the Liberal Democrats, cementing the Prime Minister's increasingly intimate relationship with Paddy Ashdown.
Before handing over the money, howev- er, Mr Blair should consider that Mr Hague and Mr Ashdown would make very differ- ent use of it, reflecting the contrasting approaches taken by their parties. Conser- vative Central Office would spend the money on more research support for its front-bench spokesmen, helping them to develop alternative policy proposals. The Liberals, after beefing up the presidential team surrounding Mr Ashdown, might well hand the balance over to its MPs.
Britain's third party makes only a cursory attempt to develop a national political pro- gramme. They rely on their local appeal, and their MPs respond to local issues, adapting flexible central policies to the con- cerns of their constituencies. They act as glorified social workers, reflecting in West- minster the worries of individuals or small groups. The Conservatives, by contrast, offer to represent in the great councils of the nation the views of their electors on the crucial issues of the day.
The contrast between these two tactics was recently on view at the Winchester by- election. Gerry Malone, the Conservative candidate, portrayed himself as an experi- enced politician, tough and clever enough to put across the views of the population of Winchester in the bear-pit of national poli- tics. Mark Oaten, the Liberal candidate. made a virtue out of his poor attendance record at Westminster, explaining that he had been too busy answering constituency letters and dealing with the problems raised at his weekly surgeries. Although the significance of the result Was distorted by the personalities of those involved, the huge vote for Mr Oaten was an endorsement, from this particular part of Britain at least, for the Liberal Demo- cratic brand of local politics. It is a develop- ment that would have horrified Edmund Burke, who insisted that MPs were dele- gates and not mere representatives.
This new voter vision of the member of parliament as a Citizens Advice Bureau of the last resort has its roots in social and political change. MPs have been forced to step into the void left by the decline of local councils, whose councillors often see them- selves as representing the municipality rather than their electors. There has also been a breakdown of the barriers of defer- ence towards politicians, the result of greater media exposure for their foibles and failings. Today, voters see their MPs as servants of the public, rather than as part of a powerful but distant authoritarian establishment. The most significant reason, however, for the new relationship between political representatives and those they represent is Britain's increasing culture of dependency. People are encouraged to believe that everything that goes wrong with their lives is somebody else's fault and, in particular, the state is expected to play an increasingly parental role in relation to its citizens. This is a damaging development, in part an unintended result of the rise of the welfare state, which has undermined tradi- tional British values of independence and enterprise.
MPs will have to live with their new car- ing role, at least until they find the political courage to roll back the state, and persuade the electorate that their so-called rights come with corresponding duties. Until that day, all is not lost. Many Conservatives suc- cessfully refuse to play the social worker, and their electorates either look after themselves, or expect local councillors to perform the role for which they are elected.
Both species of MP, however, have one positive factor in common. They are linked directly to the electors within the defined geographical area of their constituency. As with marriage, each MP must develop a relationship with his or her voters that works for both sides. That intimate connec- tion is the heart of British democracy. Pro- portional representation, which the Liber- als support, and with which the Prime Min- ister is flirting, would destroy it. MPs would become the servants of their party machine. Mr Blair can give his opponents as much money as he likes, but he must leave well alone the system by which all of them were elected.
Readers of The Spectator will share our pleasure that Nicholas Garland, contribu- tor of so many distinguished cover illustra- tions to this magazine over the years, was awarded the OBE in the New Year's Hon- ours. He deserves the reward for maintain- ing the Hogarthian tradition of approach- ing serious subjects with humour and humanity. In an honours list that otherwise paid little tribute to real creativity, this was evidence that there may be hope for the arts under New Labour after all.
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