Opportunities, Constraints and ‘the Right to Represent’

Abstract

Consider a situation in which a local elected representative enjoys substantial allowances and benefits, sufficient to release them from their employment. Such a person might, at least during their term of office, be described as a professional representative, for they would not expect to do more than supplement their earnings by other means during their period of office. The term ‘professional’ might in practice not prove strictly accurate, for a profession is something that is customarily followed for the period of one’s working life, or for a substantial proportion of it. In politics nothing – least of all continuity of office – is certain, so the full-time elected representative must keep in mind the possible need to earn a living again in the event of electoral defeat, or personal political disaster. Some will follow a well-rewarded profession such as the law, to which a return can be readily engineered. Others will have business interests which will typically have been kept alive during their period of office.