Political families.

Well yes. But if you want to influence the choice of candidate you will have to join a political party, attend the hustings and vote. As long as there is disengagement with the political process, no matter how flawed, this is what will happen.

It isn't unusual for children to follow in their parent's foot steps. Our GP is married to another GP, two of their 4 children are now GP's. Ditto teachers, lawyers, shop assistants, hairdressers, social workers, bus drivers - so i'm not surprised we have 'political' families. Inherited privilege may irritate many of us, but it's undeniable init

I do wish that politicians were obliged to work before they got on the gravy train. A stint in Tesco stacking shelves ,working at the till and then a spell in customer services. DD worked in Tesco head office and they all had to spend time on the shop floor. It was an eye opener for her. I heard of a certain potential Us president's daughter who sailed into work at a higher rate of pay than people with higher degree and greater experience. And don't start me on the Benn DGD. She's the one who wanted to a grammar school that her grandfather had not closed down.

Yes I agree Stansgran. I would rather see someone who has worked for a living before entering politics than a twenty something who is following their parent's or grandparent's career path.

Stansgran, is that Wedgewood Benn that you are referring to.

Did Tony Benn close down grammar schools? I thought that was Shirley Williams.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_families_in_the_United_Kingdom

I've posted this before when this subject came up - I love the way the examples quoted are always Labour ones with an after thought that it applies to all parties. As for closing down grammar schools, Benn was never the Secretary of State for Education. If you mean he was a member if the government which brought in comprehensive schools, that might be accurate but never let the facts get in the way of a good biased story. And also, at least she's standing in a virtually unwinnable seat so at least it's not been handed to her on a plate. I actually agree that people should have proper jobs before becoming MPs but that applies right across the political spectrum too and includes many members of today's government - I don't think it's about following in the family footsteps that is the issue , it's about having done something else before - stacking shelves in Tescos would be a good start

Why would stacking shelves in a supermarket be better preparation for a career in the legislature than being a family solicitor, a GP, an export manager, an engineer, a laboratory assistant, a vet, a sales assistant, a nurse, a plumber, etc. etc.?

Do we actually know whether Emily Benn has had any other jobs? She's twenty-four – time enough to have worked for a few years after graduating. She may have had student seasonal jobs too for all we know.

My father supported the introduction of comprehensive schools both as a Labour Party member and as an educationalist. All his five kids went to grammar schools because that's what there was where we lived and we all happened to pass the eleven+. If we hadn't we'd have gone to the local secondary mods. There wasn't the option to go to a comprehensive school. You have to use the schools there are even if you are opposed to them on ideological grounds. I expect that's what the Parent Benns did.

Same here, Bags. Emily Benn works at a UBS investment Bank. One of her grannies is Indian which is why she's often pictured wearing a sari.

There you go then. The Telegraph article is just prejudiced twaddle. Why aren't I surprised?

I think it would be a good thing if there were a few under-30s in parliament to get a wider point of view. Also it would be useful to have a few people who have brought kids up on benefits or served in combat in the armed forces.
But generally I think it would be beneficial for those who aspire to ministerial rank to manage something first. The fact that they have not is revealed by the daft and impractical ideas they come up with. Would Gordon B have ever come up with Child Family Credit if he had ever tried to grapple with some complex regulations as an administrative manager? Would Osborne have given the nod to the pasty tax if he had worked in a Greggs? Would Gove have turned the exam system on its head if he had ever worked as a head of English in a secondary school? And as for Blair and Cameron...