MPs' pay in historic context

How are MPs paid compared to average workers, by historic standards? My chart tries to answer this question. 
I constructed it as follows. First, I got the history of MPs’ pay - before allowances - from appendix A of this pdf: I divide this by 52 to get a weekly wage. Then, the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings told me that the average worker was paid £471.9 a week in 2008; the average is well above the median. This means that in 2008, MPs were paid 2.58 times as much as the average worker. Latest labour market data (pdf) update earnings for 2009. The history of average earnings comes from here.
Putting it all together shows that MPs’ wages have trended upwards, relative to the average worker, since the late 70s. Because wage inequality has risen during this time, I suspect that they’ve risen even more relative to the median worker.
Even now, though, they aren’t brilliantly well paid by historic standards.
The best times for being an MP were just after a salary was introduced in 1911, as it came in at more than six times the average wage. The late 30s were also a good time, as were the mid 60s. Indeed, even throwing in the maximum second homes allowance still leaves MPs worse off now, relative to the average worker, than they were in the mid-60s before expenses.
Whether such high wages in the 30s and 60s attracted a better quality of MP than we have now is a question I’ll leave for others.

Comments

[kinglear]

I'd have said on average it attracted a worse sort of MP.....

[Kit Collis]

That is an interesting graph - what would it look like with the top 5%, 3%, 1%, etc.? Would those statistics make MPs salaries look less desirable (comparatively speaking)?

[Bob B]

Worth reading this:

"Parliament must be saved from itself - The expenses scandal threatens democracy. Drastic action is needed and cannot be left to MPs" by Prof Vernon Bogdanor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6282598.ece

[William]

As you say, the average is well above the median. The average is skewed by dickheads at the top who steal money from the companies they purport to run and call it a 'bonus'.

What does it look like compared to the median?

[Rupert Stubbs]

This graph is a bit meaningless unless you can also show the spread of salaries at different times.

For example, in 1911 it's likely that all MPs were from the educated classes, which would have had far higher salaries than the vast mass of the population. So compared to their possible earning power they may well have been poorly done by.

[MT]

what about in comparison to other politicians in the West?

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[Bob B]

What's new?

Try this news item from December 1997:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/40990.stm

And this from November 2002:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2511047.stm

I've already mentioned that the cost to taxpayers of MPs' allowances is small beer compared with the billions lost on failed and failing government computer projects.

[Bob B]

"The head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, today delivered his starkest warning yet to the government about pressures on his soldiers, describing the defence budget as 'unbalanced' and 'heavily skewed' in favour of hi-tech, expensive platforms irrelevant to present conflicts such as Afghanistan."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/15/british-army-spending-equipment-afghanistan

Pretty obviously, Sir Richard doesn't understand the primary purpose of spending on defence: it's to provide well-paid jobs in or near Labour heartland constituencies to ensure the re-election of Labour MPs, not to conduct effective military operations in fourth generation or asymmetric warfare:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_generation_warfare

[Bob B]

As if you didn't know, Speaker Martin started his illustrious political career as a member of the Labour group on Glasgow City Council.

This Sunday Times feature from January 1998 conveys something of the flavour of Labour politics in that council and a few others in Scotland:
http://briandeer.com/glasgow-labour-1.htm

This is why I shall be voting for the SNP in the next general election if they put a candidate in the London constituency where I live.

[Jobs 16]

That is truly interesting to find out this info during the time of war and recession/depression. Will they lower the age to recruit kids down to 16 years old? Mp's do have a tough job that may lead to possible death and or injury so they should be paid a decent wage, in my opinion.

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