This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Where will you go after completing your politics degree?

Studio^54

Just wondering if you are all going to become MPs :biggrin:

OK now. What do you really want to do after completing politics?

Reply 1

Unregistered

Studio^54

Just wondering if you are all going to become MPs :biggrin:

OK now. What do you really want to do after completing politics?

any grad job i can, i'm as yet not interested enough in one specific area of politics to go do a masters although i do love the subject. accounting and finance are top of my list right now

if you want to be an mp then do a law degree.

Reply 2

currency_westlake

Studio^54

Just wondering if you are all going to become MPs :biggrin:

OK now. What do you really want to do after completing politics?

I am tempted by postgraduate study, but I imagine that (in true political fashion) I will perform a number of U-turns throughout my three years at university.

Beyond that, I have thought about the civil service, not only do I think that it would suit me but it also seems quite appropriate because stong as my opinions are, I just don't support any one party. On that point, one of the things that really frustrates me is that there is no party for 'proper' liberals like me that read The Economist, want free market principles to run the country, and also support creating a more liberal soceity with equality of opportunity and campaign for causes like gay marriage (which, sadly, most parties don't care about). Perhaps the solution is for me to create my own party, if anyone is interested in making a career out of it, then let me know!

I think that the point I was alluding to there was that an alterantive proposal would be for me to find a platform for me to promote that ideology from. That could take a number of forms: Political party, pressure group, think tank etc.

I would be interested to hear what anyone else with a similar mind-set thinks.

Best of luck, tom

Reply 3

Igor

tomhitchings

I am tempted by postgraduate study, but I imagine that (in true political fashion) I will perform a number of U-turns throughout my three years at university.

Beyond that, I have thought about the civil service, not only do I think that it would suit me but it also seems quite appropriate because stong as my opinions are, I just don't support any one party. On that point, one of the things that really frustrates me is that there is no party for 'proper' liberals like me that read The Economist, want free market principles to run the country, and also support creating a more liberal soceity with equality of opportunity and campaign for causes like gay marriage (which, sadly, most parties don't care about). Perhaps the solution is for me to create my own party, if anyone is interested in making a career out of it, then let me know!

I think that the point I was alluding to there was that an alterantive proposal would be for me to find a platform for me to promote that ideology from. That could take a number of forms: Political party, pressure group, think tank etc.

I would be interested to hear what anyone else with a similar mind-set thinks.

Best of luck, tom

yea I've had problems with finding a proper political party which would suit my political beliefs.

Reply 4

Studio^54

OP

Perhaps the solution is for me to create my own party

Having in mind that Labourists and Conservatives have been dominating for a 'longish' time You will face a huge task :tongue:

Good Luck

But if you find that politics aren't that you want at this moment, where you will go?

Reply 5

james18

iam gonna go do PPE at warwick (if i can change from politics with international study) i thought about post grad or media, how valuable is PPE from warick on a scale of 1-10 10 being the best a 1 the worst where do you think that PPE from wariwick in the job market Ceritus Paribus.

Reply 6

kingslaw

14

james18

iam gonna go do PPE at warwick (if i can change from politics with international study) i thought about post grad or media, how valuable is PPE from warick on a scale of 1-10 10 being the best a 1 the worst where do you think that PPE from wariwick in the job market Ceritus Paribus.

Depends what you want to do.

Reply 7

james18

what about hpoing to get a job writing for the guardian??

Reply 8

james18

without the spelling mistake.

Reply 9

Unregistered

james18

without the spelling mistake.

well, the guardian is well known for its typos, so mayeb that would be an asset!

Reply 10

kingslaw

14

james18

what about hpoing to get a job writing for the guardian??

I don't think something like journalism can be measured by where you get your degree from. I think what is more important in the newspaper industry is work-experience and getting to writing as much you can (university publications, setting up, or joining, a website, etc) and getting on the career ladder. I dont think you can really expect to walk out of uni and straight into a major national like the Guardian!

However, getting a degree from any top university (as Warwick is) at least demonstrates that you are an intelligent person. But some of the very best journalists either went to a poor university, or didnt go at all.

Reply 11

Baron Huntroyde

crana

well, the guardian is well known for its typos, so mayeb that would be an asset!

The Grauniad

Reply 12

BazTheMoney

Studio^54

Just wondering if you are all going to become MPs :biggrin:

And get paid £45,000 per year? No thanks...

Reply 13

Baron Huntroyde

BazTheMoney

And get paid £45,000 per year? No thanks...

It's more like £56,000, which is a lot of money.

Reply 14

kingslaw

14

BazTheMoney

And get paid £45,000 per year? No thanks...

What the hell is wrong with £45k a year. Thats almost twice as much as my dad gets paid!

Reply 15

mobbdeeprob

Baron Huntroyde

It's more like £56,000, which is a lot of money.

Indeed, but for the amount of work that one has to put in, under fairly close scrutiny, perhaps having to forsake your values etc. I don't think it represents value.

Were I to become a member of parliament, I would easily choose Brussels over Westminster. I believe I'm right in thinking that the basic salary for MEPs is £86,000 p.a. When you factor in that sum again for their 'administrative costs', which they pay to close friends and members of their family (without anything like the IDS scrutiny, because they are anonymous figures) - they are earning more than the PM. Add to that a fully paid up, open, first class air ticket to Western Europe and it is even more attractive.

Then consider that they swindle Brussels right, left and centre in matters of expenses and the attendance fee (£175 a day) which they are paid just for signing a register (as identified in the Hans Peter Martin dossier) and in a calendar year they can rake in untold sums - making the salary of Westminster MPs look like a relative pittance. Oh, and did I forget to mention, their pay is tax-free.

As if all this wasn't enough, it looks like they are still pushing for more in the form of 30,000 Euros private health cover per annum after they reach 60. All this, and their role is simply to be consulted by and give advice to the EU commission. There is no compulsion for them to even turn up in Brussels most the time. What is more, I would wager a princely sum on the majority of people in Britain not knowing who their MEP representatives were. MEPs are the beneficiaries of unrivalled EU bureacracy and the opulence in which they carry out their affairs would contend many an 18th century Secretary of State.

Reply 16

Baron Huntroyde

Either way, an MP's salary is very good, much more than the majority of the country earn.

Having pots of money does not mean happiness.

Reply 17

mobbdeeprob

Baron Huntroyde

Either way, an MP's salary is very good, much more than the majority of the country earn.

Having pots of money does not mean happiness.

Fair enough - I went to Portcullis House and spoke to four MPs about their jobs and what they were doing. The impression that I got was that they were very, very busy people - overworked you may say. Especially MPs who have to travel long distances to get to Westminster and then have several commitments in both London and their home consituencies (plus their families) throughout the week. They are massively accountable and become more so as their profile increases.

I do not for a minute claim that £60,000 is an inadequate salary, but when you consider that some Whitehall bureaucrats and members of Government quangos and thinktanks can earn that in a three-day week (with hardly any of the attached burdens that MPs deal with) - it isn't exactly a cakewalk for MPs and in my opinion there are considerably less taxing jobs for the money.

Reply 18

*Hythlodaeus*

5

MPs get a basic salary of £56k pa plus a huge allowence which they are supposed to use for traveling and employing researchers but there have been some who have got caught up in scandals because they have pocketed the money instead. I think it's almost as much as their salary.

Where MPs really make the big money is having all sorts of directorships of companies which in reality they do very little work for. Not all of them do of course but more and more are because there are now career (full-time) politicians instead of having people who have ordinary jobs as well as being an MP, a bit like councillors do.

I don't think many people who are MPs have a politics degree it's usually law or PPE from Oxford. And there are still some MPs who didn't go to uni and are all the better for it. They are always the people I agree with.

Personally I want to go into journalism, but it's going to be tough!

Reply 19

Baron Huntroyde

*Hythlodaeus*

I don't think many people who are MPs have a politics degree it's usually law or PPE from Oxford.

That's not really true, there are quite a few lawyers in the Commons, but I don't know about PPE. There are no prerequisites so I imagine those MPs holding a degree have them in very varied subject areas. They're not all Oxbridge.

Where will you go after completing your politics degree?

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you