British politics loves to borrow from American politics. Whether their rallies, their slogans or their advisers, if something is happening across the pond, it seems we just cannot help but want a piece of the action.
One thing it seems we have never been tempted by however is the way that American’s make laws. More specifically, the role that money plays in securing votes. But with the serious prospect of a minority government after May, could ‘pork barrel’ politics in Britain be just around the corner?
For those not acquainted with the American way of doing things, here is a quick primer. ‘Pork’ in a nutshell is when members of congress secure spending for projects in their district or state, in exchange for supporting specific pieces of legislation.
For decades pork has been used to smooth the passage of major bills in congress, often leading to all manner of bizarre pet projects being funded, in order to boost the re-election changes of sitting congressmen. Take the 2010 stimulus bill presented by congress to President Obama for example. It contained $1.5m for competitive potato breeding research, $693,000 for beef improvement research and, my personal favourite, $7.2m for the [Tom] Harkin Grant Program, proposed by, wait for it … senator Tom Harkin. Yet despite having run on a pledge to reform this kind of spending, Obama did what most presidents do in these situations, he signed the bill
Here in Britain however such blatant financial bribes have not generally been a part of our political culture. There are obvious reasons for this. While primary elections gives members of congress a level of independence from their party, in Britain members of parliament rely solely on internal party mechanisms to get re-selected.
This difference gives the British whip’s office the upper hand when it comes to negotiations on individual votes. Sweeteners are of course needed from time to time, but they are more likely to consist of a better office, a plum committee position, or the promise of future promotion, than a new spending commitment.
That is not to say that it is unheard of for an MP in a marginal seat to find a way to get funding for a new hospital or school, approved close to election time. In fact during this parliament Danny Alexander was accused of ‘pork barrel politics’ by the Campaign for Better Transport, over his support for a new £300m road project in a Liberal Democrat marginal constituency. So it does happen, but certainly not on the scale or regularity with which is seen in the United States.
Depending on the result of the next election however, that could all change. Right now no one really knows for sure what the result of the next election will be. But for the moment let’s assume the polls stay roughly as they are and we end up with a hung parliament. Let’s also assume that neither of the main parties can agree terms for a coalition and one chooses to go it alone as a minority government.
It is easy to see a situation where a minority government such as this, needing to amass a majority on every vote in the commons, could regularly resort to pork barrel promises in order to win the support of individual MPs. The spending implications alone of such a prospect are a pretty frightening, particularly with a deficit to close and public services in need of long-term reforms. But how would the public react? Mixed, if American public opinion is anything to go by at least.
A 2012 poll by The Washington Post found that 79 per cent of voters were against ‘pork spending’. However, the same poll also found that 57 per cent wanted there representative to fight for more spending in their own district and 53 per cent said they would be more likely to vote for a representative with a record for securing government projects locally . Make of that what you will.
So could pork become a feature of British politics? Maybe, who knows what the election will bring. It is possible that a late surge could see one of the main parties claim a majority and the situation will not arise. But it is just as likely, if not more so, that we could end up with an unstable, unpredictable minority government. If that is the case then pork really could be on the menu. Whether voters will stomach it however remains to be seen.
———————————
Rich Durber is a former speechwriter for a shadow minister and writes a fortnightly column for Progress. He tweets @richdurber
———————————