But there is one area where, inexplicably, a very generous and arbitrary threshold is in force – and that relates to MPs’ shareholdings. There are different financial thresholds for declaring interests – some are quite low, such as £300 for employment, gifts and overseas visits when paid by a third party – and others higher, such as £1,500 for political donations and £10,000 for rental income.
This helped to ensure the register fulfilled its main purpose: “to provide information about any financial interest which a Member has, or any benefit which he or she receives, which others might reasonably consider to influence his or her actions or words as a Member of Parliament.” However low the risk that these relatively small payments were going to influence my actions, I never objected to declaring them. So at the end of each month, I would fret over whether I had remembered to log the payments appropriately, knowing that organisations such as Unlock Democracy and openDemocracy were active scrutineers of the register. These payments were not without strings they had to be reported. I then donated this either to a local charity or to my constituency fund. In return for spending 40 minutes or so answering page after page of multiple choice questions, I would receive £150. When I was an MP, I would regularly take part, completing at least one survey a month.
YouGov, Ipsos Mori and other polling companies regularly seek the views of opinion formers, such as MPs, on economic, trade or foreign affairs issues (and more light-heartedly, immediately before they break up in July, on their summer reading lists).
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