Finding a new life after Westminster

In two weeks, powerful British men and women will find themselves unemployed, having been publicly booted out of their jobs. There is no profession like a politician's.

"Gutted" is how David Kidney (Labour MP, Stafford, 1997-2010) describes his state of mind after losing his seat in the last election. "It's a very hurtful feeling; you've been rejected. I lost a job that was satisfying. It was a deflating time." It is very personal, says Sarah McCarthy-Fry (Labour MP, 2005-2010), who lost her Portsmouth North seat to the Conservative party. "It hurts. Of course it hurts."

Such feelings are familiar to Kevin Theakston, professor of British government at the University of Leeds. Bereavement was a common parallel invoked by ousted MPs he interviewed for a report commissioned by the Association of Former Members of Parliament.

The sense of rejection, he found, was compounded by the fact that MPs had to comfort distressed supporters and family when they lost their seats. There was also unhappiness at having to let go of their staff. For a few, defeat led to serious depression.

Some felt that their party treated them as "non-persons". One anonymous former MP said: "It is a sort of British equivalent of when they took down Stalin's picture in the Soviet Union."

When Ms McCarthy-Fry returned to Westminster briefly to help Ed Balls fight the Labour leadership campaign, she found the experience emotional. "I felt sad wandering around the corridors. You discover there are so many places non-MPs are not allowed to go." Worse, a number of MPs greeted her warmly, not realising she had been ousted.

Part of the difficulty post-defeat is because it is hard to have a Plan B when electioneering. "You can't fight campaigns and motivate local workers if planning what to do next," says Prof Theakston. "You need to focus psychologically and think you will win." There is only one way to seek electoral victory, says Ms McCarthy Fry "and that is to go into it to win".

Edwina Currie (Conservative MP, South Derbyshire, 1983-1997) disagrees. "It's an idiot that forgets that there's no such thing as a safe seat." She got a facelift after leaving Westminster. "Never regretted it, but wouldn't do it again. I found myself working in radio so I needn't have bothered."

She sums up her attitude before each general election as follows:

1987: "Oh, well, if this finishes now, I can go back to teaching and lecturing. Maybe at a posher institution."

1992: "Right . . . I can get on with that novel I've always wanted to write."

1997: "Lawd, I wish this horrible session would come to an end. Dying to get on with next stage of my life."

The television reality show contestant maintains she was driven in part by a fear that "some other idiot . . . with weirder ideas" would replace her.

Financial fortunes for ex-MPs are mixed. Claire Ward (Labour MP, Watford, 1997- 2010) says: "There is a public perception that people come out with great sums of money. And that is not the case for most." The media careers of the likes of Ms Currie, Ann Widdecombe and Michael Portillo distort the reality of post-political life. For every Tony Blair (who has been reported as being worth anything from £10m to £100m), there are many more who go on to earn less than they did as an MP, according to Prof Theakston. One former Liberal Democrat MP was reported as being ordered to report for a suitability-to-work interview by the benefits office she had opened only the year before.

The resettlement allowance, which varies according to age and length of time in the job, helps cushion the financial blow.

Ms McCarthy-Fry had a brief period of job hunting, including a rejection for a job in the education sector despite having been a junior schools minister. Ultimately she was asked by her former employer, GKN Aerospace, to return. Today the company's finance director, she believes she was helped by the fact that she had extensive experience beyond Westminster, as well only being an MP for five years.

A lot of her former colleagues, of all political parties, go into political consultancy. The selling point is knowing how to navigate government and their contacts. One such former MP is Tom Levitt (Labour MP, High Peak, 1997-2010) who insists that he has "not made huge amounts of money" but "my contacts have been helpful".

Richard Tracey (Conservative MP, Surbiton, 1983-1997), who lost by 56 votes after four recounts, "got over the shock" by going into public affairs and government relations consultancy work in the City and worked with his local party. Author and journalist Chris Mullin (Labour MP, Sunderland South, 1987-2010), who retired from politics, believes it helps to have a profession to which to return: lawyers, doctors, bankers usually do well. "Those who have held high office are often in demand in boardrooms and as advisers," he says. Traditionally, former Tories find it easier than former Labour MPs, he believes, "because they usually have networks in the City which come to their rescue, although some of the New Labour elite are doing well".

Some, according to Prof Theakston, felt that having "MP" on their CV counted against them.

"You're very vulnerable to competitors having more work experience," notes Mr Kidney, a former lawyer who felt that his legal skills were out of date after 13 years away from the profession.

Former MPs need time to adjust to their new situation, says Mr Levitt. He oversees the email list of the "PLP [parliamentary Labour party] in Exile", who come together for monthly pub meetings. "We're all geeks of some sort, never far from political discussion." Most former MPs remain connected to politics in some way - campaigning for local candidates, for example.

Through the group, he has made friends with other former Labour MPs he had never had a chance to befriend while at parliament.

The group was set up in 2011. "If we'd tried to set it up earlier it wouldn't have worked. There was a feeling at the last election that it all ended unhappily. You don't want to mix with other miserable people."

"You need to get your breath back and realise life is normal," says Mr Kidney.

Mr Levitt, who stepped down from his seat, believes there is a huge difference between those who choose to go and those who are ousted. "I had seven months to get used to it."

His experience resonates with Prof Theakston, who found that those who preferred life after Westminster were retired rather than defeated.

Mr Kidney, who is now chief executive of the UK Public Health Register, feels that for those defeated MPs who decide to fight the next election their life can be "put on hold". He is sympathetic, however, to those chasing the former adrenalin buzz. So too is Mr Levitt: "Can't spend 13 years doing the most exciting job in the world and not miss it."

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