July 19, 2025

The House of Commons is the greatest closed shop of all…For the purposes of government, a country of 55 million people is forced to depend on a talent pool which could not sustain a single multinational company.

John Hoskyns (1927–2014), British businessman, Conservative policy analyst, ‘Conservatism is Not Enough’ (Institute of Directors Annual Lecture), 25 September 1983, Jay p.183

If this is the case, would expanding the talent pool be a solution?

Comparative statistics are in order: the following shows the average number of people served by an individual member of the lower house of each nation’s legislature. Australia: 165,000 Canada: 114,000 New Zealand: 43,100 South Africa: 148,500 United Kingdom: 102,600 United States: 754,000 Note the outlier. Is reform in order?