Electoral Vulnerability, Constituency Focus, and Parliamentary Questions in the House of Commons

Abstract

This article: Demonstrates that use of written parliamentary questions by British MPs is influenced by electoral context. Shows that as the margin of victory in prior election decreases, members ask more questions. Indicates that the margin of victory does not affect proportion of questions that focus on constituency issues. Concludes that electorally vulnerable members use questions to signal effort, rather than attention to constituency issues. An emerging literature suggests that British MPs use legislative tools such as private member bills and early day motions to develop reputations with constituents, notwithstanding the common belief that individual legislative behaviour has little effect on electoral outcomes in Britain. This study demonstrates that British MPs also use parliamentary questions to respond to electoral vulnerability. Using data on written parliamentary questions asked between 1997 and 2010, it examines two possible consequences of electoral vulnerability: increased question frequency and greater focus on constituency issues in questions. It demonstrates that members ask more written parliamentary questions on average when their margin of victory decreases. In contrast, there is no meaningful evidence that MP focus on constituency issues increases with electoral marginality. These findings suggest that members use questions to signal effort to their constituents rather than attention to constituency issues.