Abstract
Newly elected Members of Parliament do not arrive at Westminster to find a fully-equipped office and personal staff awaiting them but rather a confusion of meetings, information packs, receptions, invitations, and bulging postbags. Of course, there are the well-oiled machines of the House of Commons and, for the most part, their parties, but as far as these are concerned the newly elected are more akin to passengers than learner-drivers. There is much to do and much to learn. But are they then simply socialised into their role? The short answer is yes, but understanding parliamentary socialisation requires answers to other, more complex questions, four in particular:
I suspect that the main change that has affected every new MP over the past year is that we are now fully institutionalised.
(Damian Green, Conservative MP for Ashford since 1997)1
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© 2011 Michael Rush and Philip Giddings
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Rush, M., Giddings, P. (2011). Parliamentary Socialisation. In: Parliamentary Socialisation. Understanding Governance Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230316850_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230316850_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-33007-2
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