The winner takes it all? A psychological study of political success among UK members of parliament

Abstract

Is there a winning formula when it comes to individual success in contemporary politics? In this article, I analyse self-report data on the Basic Human Values (Schwartz, 1994, Journal of Social Issues, 50, 19-45) of 106 national politicians in the UK to examine the impact of these individual characteristics on three alternative political outcomes: the size of a candidate's electoral majority, their longevity as an elected representative and their progression (or not) to frontbench office. On the one hand, it seems that the values of individual politicians make very little impact on their electoral performance at the ballot box. On the other hand, politicians' values seem to impact on both their ability to hold on to office once elected and in turn to make in-role career progression.