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Parliamentary Affairs Advance Access originally published online on June 16, 2009
Parliamentary Affairs 2009 62(3):503-513; doi:10.1093/pa/gsp015
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© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government; all rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Taking the Temperature of the British Political Elite 3: When Grubby is the Order of the Day ...

Michael Kenny1

Professor of Politics
University of Sheffield
UK

Correspondence: m.kenny{at}ippr.org

This Commentary assesses the causes and impact of the recent exposure of MPs' expenses claims by the Daily Telegraph. It first assesses ‘Smear-gate’ which immediately preceded these revelations and forced the resignation of one of the Prime Minister's advisers; and also takes in claims that members of the House of Lords sought cash to influence legislation. The expenses ‘scandal’ is then put into a wider context of declining public trust in politics. I then consider how the parties' often short-term responses may make matters better or worse. The Commentary concludes by asking how far the current furore presents the political class as a whole with the chance to mobilise support for a full transformation of the conduct of politics, something that might reverse the current trend towards greater disenchantment with Westminster politics.


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