The Spectator’s Notes | 9 February 2008

Derek Conway maintains his position. ‘I still believe I have done nothing wrong,’ he told the Mail on Sunday. To understand why he could possibly think that, one has to dig deeper into British class feeling. In wanting to become a Conservative MP, Mr Conway, a working-class boy from Gateshead, seems to have believed not only that he could serve his country, but that he would become posher. He exclaims that ‘An MP is paid less than a sous-chef in the Commons’, as if this were a self-evident absurdity. He says everything would be fine if only MPs were given ‘the salary for the job’, which he thinks would be between £80,000 and £100,000. But I do not think he could explain rationally why that range might be the right rate — why not much more, in order to get the best, or much less, in order to make sure that no one goes into it for the money? He wants what he sees as the befitting lifestyle, and he thinks the taxpayer should provide it.