Reduce the number of MPs? Surely not.

I am very open to the idea of reforming Parliament. Indeed, I think it is now essential. But I am not convinced by the proposal to reduce the number of MPs.

I have three reasons for this.

First, I worry about having enough MPs in the House with the ability to be a good minister. The fewer MPs you have, the greater the chance that you will need to promote people who are clearly not up to it. This is already a problem even at the current numbers.

Second, I worry that reducing the number of MPs will increase their constituency case load. This reduces still further the time they have available to scrutinise legislation.

Third, I worry about the political impact of the reduction. It will mean that the Parliament in which the reduction is made is dominated by a scramble for seats among existing MPs. During the 1992 Parliament, such a scramble was one of the reasons for dissension in the Tory Party as MPs tried to appeal to members of the party and mark themselves out for activists rather than voters.

The main argument in favour - that it might reduce the costs of Westminster - is hard to take all that seriously, however popular it might be.