Britain in the 1990s seemed to be sleaze nation. Neil Hamilton, Jonathan Aitken, Tim Smith and later Peter Mandelson and Keith Vaz – they and others were part of the phenomena of ‘sleaze’, which became a catch-all term for any suspicion of impropriety on the part of our elected representatives. Conduct Unbecoming: The Regulation of Parliamentary Behaviour, edited by Oonagh Gay and Patricia Leopold, is an examination of sleaze, looking at the implications of the Hamilton affair, the impact of the media on political scandals and the current regulatory framework in Westminster and in other political systems.
This is a serious book about a serious issue – or what should be regarded as such. Charges of corruption in British political life are a grave matter, but somehow, the allegations of sleaze (in particular against members of John Major’s government) acquired a ludicrous air. This book attempts to wrest sleaze back from Have I Got News For You and the pantomime antics of the Hamiltons, and makes a weighty contribution to the ongoing debate about the regulation of MPs.
Major’s ‘Back to Basics’ policy invited open season on any Tory MP with a shameful secret – sexual or financial. And they fell like dominos – lurid headlines exposed the adulterous antics of MPs like Stephen Norris and David Mellor. Although at one point it seemed as though the House of Commons was turning into a knocking shop for Conservative members, it was the allegations of financial irregularities that prompted the establishment of the Parliamentary Committee on Standards in Public Life.
As the introduction points out, this book is the first thorough investigation into the new system of parliamentary regulation, following the first report of Lord Nolan in 1995. Given the importance in public life of the issue of trust in politicians, and furthermore, the perceived disillusionment of the electorate as a result of sleaze, this is perhaps surprising.
Conduct Unbecoming interrogates two significant debates: the regulation of MPs and the decline in public confidence in politicians.
The chapter on media coverage of political scandals is crucial in examining the latter issue. It begins with a useful reminder that the interest of the press in what the authors describe as the ‘more irregular activities of politicians’ is not a recent occurrence. However, the media went beyond simple reportage in scandals of the 1990s and have become ‘participants and actors in the events they report’. The high profile of Michael Crick, the journalist whose evidence led to the ‘Betsygate’ scandal, illustrates this point.
While it is not possible to deny that a very small minority of politicians have done and will continue to abuse their position, there is clearly a gap between the substance and perception of politicians. This chapter makes an important point about the elastic nature of the word ‘sleaze’ – its lack of precision and application by the media to a whole range of incidents, instead of the use of more correct terms such as ‘corruption’ or ‘misconduct’, allowed the interested public to feel mired in sleaze. Furthermore, allegations become public, a frenzy ensues and the case dies away before it is proved or disproved, leaving the electorate with the impression of another act of betrayal by a public servant regardless of the veracity of the allegations.
So, the press don’t help – no surprises there – but then neither, according to the authors, do politicians, and not just the ones caught with their fingers in the till. Conduct Unbecoming argues that the regulation machinery currently in place is unsatisfactory, and reaches some damning conclusions, suggesting that there is little recognition of the need for action to restore trust in political institutions, and that the maintenance of self regulation by Parliament is the principal aim.
The robust and well-researched conclusions of Conduct Unbecoming deserve a considered response. Unfortunately, the damage caused by sleaze has been so debilitating that it seems to mean that there is little public, press or political will to tackle this issue head on.