The Green party may be helping change job sharing for MPs
You know who don’t get much press? The Green party. We hear a lot about “Labour this” and “Conservative that”, but the Greens are always something of an afterthought. Sure, they’re not exactly big players with only one seat in the House of Commons and regularly under whelming performances at elections, but that isn’t stopping them from leading the way in other areas.
As you may or may not know there is currently a ban on MPs job sharing. This was made apparent during the general election by Sarah Cope and Clare Phipps who wanted to run for the MP of Basingstoke under a job share agreement for the Green party, a decision that was backed by the Green party themselves. Unfortunately, they had their application denied by a high court ruling late July this year.
I found this a little odd at the time… If positions like doctors, judges and even those in the army can be filled in on a job share basis, why can’t it be the same for an MP? The very people who are there to represent us aren’t allowed to job share, narrowing the pool of candidates that can be selected from. This can lead to an under representation of people whose lifestyle requires more flexible working, such as single mothers and the disables to name just a few.
So why are we writing about this now and not in the Summer? Well, things may be about to change…
The Green party have been running a campaign to allow job sharing for MPs which was recently given a boost. Councillor Daniella Radice Will be beginning a job share with Fi Hance, Green councillor for the city of Bristol’s Redland Ward. This is the first time that one of the UK’s “core cities” has allowed something like this and may even be paving the way for MPs to job share in future.
It might seem like a small step, but it’s one in the right direction. Let’s hope that this campaign continues to grow as not only does it help our MPs, it helps us. The better we’re represented in the House of Commons, the stronger our political system. Hopefully it won’t be long before more roles are being filled with job shares and we’re all seeing the benefit.
If you want to get job sharing be sure to join our community and find your perfect job share partner.