Most of you probably don’t want to live next door to a politician. There’s all the unwanted leaflets come election time and think of the constant renovations… But maybe you should think again.
That’s one interpretation of research using Swedish data to investigate where local politicians live and whether it matters. Elected representatives, especially on the right, tend to reside in affluent neighbourhoods. So far not so surprising (after all, politicians have above average qualifications), but researchers also found that where they live affects what happens there.
Specifically, “bad” outcomes, such as apartment blocks being built (which locals oppose) or school closures, are significantly less likely in neighbourhoods where politicians from a local ruling party live (compared with areas where local opposition politicians live).
The effect is large: when a party wins power it leads to a 19 percentage-point fall in the chance of proposed school closures in areas where politicians from that party live.
The authors say this is a sign that favouritism drives decisions and surprising to find in Sweden, with one of the world’s lowest corruption levels. Some might now want to break out the champagne when an MP moves next door but I’m old fashioned. Maybe it shows why we should care about them failing to live up to important ideals of public service, even if they’re not technically corrupt.
• Torsten Bell is chief executive of the Resolution Foundation. Read more at resolutionfoundation.org
