Member News
By Tony Grew - 15th November 2010
Eleanor Laing claims not to be one of life's rebels.
When we met last week to discuss the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, the Tory MP for Epping Forest explained why the coalition has to push on with a referendum on AV.
She admits she is "not keen" on that part of the bill.
"But I accept it is the price David Cameron had to pay to go into a coalition with the Liberals."
Not keen is a typical piece of Laing understatement.
She has been one of the most vocal Commons critics of the legislation, questioning everything from its cost to its timing to its legitimacy.
Laing, who is a former shadow whip, shadow constitutional spokesman and shadow Scotland secretary, spent more than a decade on the opposition frontbench.
David Cameron's decision not to appoint such an experienced, high-profile female Tory to a government job puzzled many at Westminster.
For her part, Laing is a political realist about the need for co-government with former enemies.
"We did not get an overall majority and the condition of a coalition was the referendum on AV.
"It was a price worth paying in order to have the stability to deal with the horrific financial situation left by the last government."
Laing claims it would have been "far more sensible" to have separate bills on reducing and equalising constituencies and another on the referendum.
However, she accepts the politics behind linking them in one piece of legislation.
"The reason is that the Conservatives do not want to do AV without the change in the constitutional boundaries," she said.
"The referendum shall take place on May 5 with a simple majority vote – that is what the Liberals get in the coalition agreement.
"The Conservatives get the boundary review."
Laing accepts the bill has been rushed through the Commons, but she argues that MPs have had enough time to discuss it.
"Constitutional change takes a long time, so you have to get it in right at the beginning.
"It is unfortunate that not every bit of the bill was scrutinised at committee stage."
She declines to criticise Labour's tactics, though she concurs that on some occasions their calls for multiple votes wasted time that could have been used for scrutiny.
"I think it is correct for the government to get on with its business right away," she adds, especially as boundary reviews will need to be completed before the next election.
"We need a long lead time to get that done and get candidates in place."
Laing is "very supportive" of the plan to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600 and equalise the size of the electorate in every seat.
It is "a matter of fact" that it takes less votes to elect a Labour MP than a Tory.
"The equalisation of the electorate in every seat in the country will leave Labour in a less fortunate position," says Laing.
A reluctant rebel, Laing said the Commons can only operate effectively through party loyalty.
"I am in complete agreement with most of the policies the government are bringing forward.
"There are certain matters of principle on constitutional reform where I think it is right that somebody should stand up for the Conservative point of view.
"In these areas the lead minister is Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister himself.
"He has every right to bring it forward and I will not vote against it.
"But I do think that as an elected representative and as a parliamentarian I have a duty to try to improve the legislation.
"As a Conservative I have a duty to stand up for Conservative principles against the Liberals.
"I do not see my role to wreck the coalition agreement."
Laing admits that her determination to articulate the Tory voice may not be fully understood in the whips office.
"They have a very difficult job, with a large number of new MPs who are just beginning to grasp the nuances."
The Parliamentary Voting and Constituencies Bill reaches the House of Lords today, where it can expect a rough ride.
Many of the objections raised by Laing will no doubt exercise the upper House, and there will be attempts by Labour peers to extend scrutiny of the bill, which would wreck the government's timetable.
Laing points out that plans to reduce and equalise constituencies were in the Conservative manifesto and so it would be "wrong" for the Lords to turn that part of the bill down completely.
She is already looking ahead to the referendum itself, and the chance to "tell people the truth" and calmly, steadily present the case for the current system.
There will be a meeting today between Tory MPs and the NO to AV campaign and Laing predicts an enthusiastic response from voters.
"It is often said that people don't care about politics, about the mechanisms of politics or voting systems.
"Most people do care that things are done in a proper decent fair manner.
"They will come out and vote against AV."
Finally, it would be remiss to speak to any MP these days without enquiring as to their relations with Ipsa.
Laing reveals, with an admirable lack of bitterness, that she has yet to receive a penny from the new expenses watchdog.
"The way it operates is an absolute nightmare," she says, adding that new members have been hit even harder as they had to find the funds to set up offices.
"Members of Parliament find themselves in an appalling situation, having to travel for well over an hour's journey home, often late at night.
"Some vindictive person somewhere has decided that MPs as a group should suffer.
"An awful lot of it is just petty."
Times may be tough, but Laing looks back to her own election in 1997 – having to deal with Tony Blair in office was much tougher than doing a deal with the Lib Dems.
She expresses sympathy with those MPs "who made promises in the election campaign and can't keep them".
Laing said she has learnt some valuable lessons from her years in opposition.
"You should be very careful what you promise."
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