ABSTRACT
In the mid-1990s there was evidence that political life was held in low esteem by the British public; indeed, politicians inspired about as much trust as estate agents and journalists. How could this opprobrium be counteracted? One set of counter-measures focused on “sleaze” and introduced tighter rules to restrict MPS supplementing their “low” salaries by earning money from outside interests. The House of Commons might also be able to command greater respect if it were more “descriptively” representative of the British people-if it were to reflect more accurately the population’s demographic structure. As a result, more “substantive” representation of the interests of constituents could be achieved, although at the risk of representative institutions becoming only “symbolic” rather than substantive (Pitkin 1967, Swain 1993).
