Parliament to P45: is there a life after politics?

One moment you're sat in the heart of power and the next you're jobless – that is the brutal reality for many MPs who lost their seats at the general election.

The experiences of former MPs vary: ex-Conservative member and government minister Tom Pursglove told the BBC this week that, two months after he lost his seat, he is still looking for a new job, but others have quickly made millions of pounds after leaving office.

'Financial cliff edge'

A House of Commons Committee found last year that electoral defeat can "have a significant impact" on former MPs' health, and "many find themselves on a financial and career cliff edge" as they're "confronted with the task of seeking a new career identity and sense of purpose".

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"Such is the ruthless nature" of politics, said the BBC, that MPs can lose their jobs "overnight", leaving behind a starting salary of £91,000. They receive a Loss of Office Payment and a winding-up payment, equivalent to four months' salary. The Commons also allows departing MPs four months to wind down their offices.

They're eligible for other support to help them plan their future and "adapt to life away from Parliament", and the Commons funds a "transition" service to support "departing members" with "career planning, CV writing and interview techniques", said the broadcaster.

Some former MPs join the Association of Former Members of Parliament which runs outreach programmes, including talks in schools and universities, tailored to exploit the knowledge and experience gained by MPs while they were in office.

'Revolving doors'

The "revolving doors" of British politics can lead "from the corridors of Whitehall and the Palace of Westminster" to "the siren call of corporate boardrooms, highly-paid consultancies and the speaking circuit", said the i news site. Many MPs quickly gain lucrative corporate roles, particularly those who actively planned or anticipated their Commons exit.

Former MPs "could be set to earn themselves a small fortune" in the months after the election, potentially "picking up hundreds of thousands of pounds for a few hours work" on the speaker circuit, said The Mirror.

"Free from the shackles of political protocols", ex-politicians "can afford to be more candid in their speeches", meaning they can pick up big sums for public speaking. Nick Gold, managing director of the Speakers Corner bureau, said former MPs "know how to inspire an audience" and "once you've handled the hecklers in the House of Commons", a "keynote speaking engagement is a walk in the park".

For former prime ministers, the rewards are fruitful: Theresa May is estimated to have made some £3.1m from speaking engagements since leaving office in 2019, and Boris Johnson earned £2.5m in advance payment for speeches within six months of departing Downing Street in 2022.

It's 'tricky'

The dilemma for former MPs is "how to turn years, often decades", of experience "at the coalface of government and statecraft" into a new path without "being left open to accusations of profiting excessively or inappropriately" from a past life of public service, said the i news site.

It is a test which has "chalked up some notable failures in recent years", such as Lord Cameron, who lobbied the government after he left office for the controversial and now defunct finance house Greensill to join a pandemic-linked loan scheme.

Finally, spare a thought for the MPs' teams because it's not just the member who loses their role when a seat changes hands. The staff of any MP who has lost their seat will be made redundant, with researchers, campaign officers and assistants "also out of a job", said Birmingham Live.

Former Tory MP Duncan Baker has spent recent months closing down his local constituency office, supporting his six members of staff with redundancy and terminating a contract with a family in London from whom he rented a room during his time in Westminster.

Asked by the BBC how he feels losing his £91,000-a-year salary, Baker, a father of two young daughters, said it is "tricky".