Dishonourable members? Exploring patterns of misconduct in the contemporary House of Commons

Parliamentary misconduct is a recurring feature of British politics. It has a long history and a broad meaning: some transgressions are relatively trivial; others encroach on the territory of political corruption. This article systematically analyses instances of officially recognised misconduct in the House of Commons since 1995. It explores recent institutional changes in the way that the House seeks to maintain Members' propriety and analyses incidents of misconduct by coding every critical report about a named MP published by the House's Committee on Standards and Privileges. The article identifies eight general types of misconduct: breaching parliamentary privilege, failing to register an interest, failing to declare a relevant interest, engaging in paid advocacy, personal misbehaviour, making an improper private gain from official resources, making an improper political gain from official resources and obstructing the House's investigative procedures. It finds that failures to register financial interests were initially the most common form of misconduct, and it also finds an increase in the number of cases involving the misuse of allowances in the years before the 2009 expenses controversy. It discusses possible causes for these patterns and concludes by pointing the way for future research. British Politics (2011) 6, 210-240. doi:10.1057/bp.2011.6