Thanks, these are great insights and I hadn’t considered the first before. I’d always assumed one’s impact would improve if one’s MP became a minister (albeit depending on the policy brief), partly because the (very few) friends I know whose MPs were promoted saw their own work become more interesting and important, and some became political advisers. Perhaps a big factor is whether the new minister is allocated spads and whether they promote their parliamentary staff to these roles. I think a lot of spads are former assistants, but that doesn’t imply that assistants to ministers have a good shot at becoming spads (though I still assume they’d have a better shot than pretty much anyone else!). I am considering doing a similar post for political adviser roles though I have less experience in that area.
On the other hand, this isn’t as much of a constraint in opposition. Political Advisors are like senior senior parliamentary researchers—everyone’s part of one (tiny!) team.
Thanks, these are great insights and I hadn’t considered the first before. I’d always assumed one’s impact would improve if one’s MP became a minister (albeit depending on the policy brief), partly because the (very few) friends I know whose MPs were promoted saw their own work become more interesting and important, and some became political advisers. Perhaps a big factor is whether the new minister is allocated spads and whether they promote their parliamentary staff to these roles. I think a lot of spads are former assistants, but that doesn’t imply that assistants to ministers have a good shot at becoming spads (though I still assume they’d have a better shot than pretty much anyone else!). I am considering doing a similar post for political adviser roles though I have less experience in that area.
Yep, SpAds bit is key—If my employer hadn’t got a special advisor, I might have been useful
On the other hand, this isn’t as much of a constraint in opposition. Political Advisors are like senior senior parliamentary researchers—everyone’s part of one (tiny!) team.