Love your local MP? Probably not

MPs who take comfort in the old adage that while people don't like politicians, they do like their own MP, may have to think again, according to new research from the British Election Study (BES). Professor Philip Cowley, a BES Associate based in The University of Nottingham, says contrary to the popular perception, most people rate their local MP in a similar way to MPs in general. Only a minority of people, he says are slightly more positive about their local MP than they are about MPs in general. The British Election Study is managed by a consortium of leading political scientists at The Universities of Manchester, Oxford and Nottingham and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Professor Cowley, of the School of Politics and International Relations, said: "After years of bad press and public hostility, it's become a bit of a comfort blanket that the animosity towards MPs is nothing personal; it's the other politicians who are the unpopular ones. "But this is only partially true. In reality, the difference is exaggerated so whatever you might feel about MPs, it's certainly not love." One of the questions in the BES data sample of over 20,878 people, asked about trust in MPs generally, as well as their own MP.