MPs preparing to quit in droves

More than 120 Labour MPs - a third of the parliamentary party - are preparing to quit the British Parliament at the next general election in the biggest clear-out of the parliamentary "old guard" for generations, according to senior party figures.

Yesterday, the party released figures showing 63 Labour MPs have already informed Prime Minister and party leader Gordon Brown they are going.

Information passed on to party whips suggests this total will rise to some 93 by the end of conference season in the northern autumn, and could then climb by at least a further 20-30 in the run-up to a general election, expected next northern spring.

Last week, Eric Pickles, the Opposition Conservative Party chairman, said he expected about a further 17 Conservative MPs to announce they were stepping down, in addition to 26 who had already done so. Six Liberal Democrats have so far announced they will leave Parliament. At the next election, parliamentary authorities expect about 200 from all parties to quit.

Labour Party insiders say MPs' experiences when confronting voters incensed by the expenses scandal has added to a sense of disillusion about the job as Labour heads for what many believe is inevitable - a thumping defeat at the next general election.

Many Labour MPs are concerned that their earnings will be pegged back severely if pressure mounts over coming months to stop them taking second jobs in order to supplement their £64,766 ($161,033) salaries.

One senior Labour figure said: "The total will go well over 100, probably to 120. After 12 years in power, Labour MPs do not want to be in opposition for a decade bound by rules that prevent them realising their earning potential."

Andrew MacKinlay, a Labour backbencher who recently announced he was quitting, said: "A lot more will go, I am sure. It will probably reach 120. That should be the high-water mark."

Labour MP Barry Sheerman told a private meeting of backbench MPs last month that the party could face mass resignations if discontent with Brown's leadership deepened. "If we are not careful, a number of MPs could leave their seats in the coming weeks and months and cause byelections ... and then we would be in real trouble."

But most Labour MPs say they and their colleagues will avoid going before the election so they can take advantage of tax-free severance terms that guarantee MPs between six months' and a year's pay if they leave Parliament at a general election, whether voluntarily or not.

Increasingly MPs believe that Brown may announce further restrictions on second jobs following a report into MPs' expenses by Sir Christopher Kelly, due to be published later this year. One senior Labour source said he believed there would be a manifesto commitment to ban second jobs. Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, is known to favour making the job of MPs "full-time".

- OBSERVER