Parliamentary privilege—mortality in members of the Houses of Parliament compared with the UK general population: retrospective cohort analysis, 1945-2011

OBJECTIVE To examine mortality in members of the two UK Houses of Parliament compared with the general population, 1945-2011. DESIGN Retrospective cohort analysis of death rates and predictors of mortality in Members of Parliament (MPs) and members of the House of Lords (Lords). SETTING UK. PARTICIPANTS 4950 MPs and Lords first joining the UK parliament in 1945-2011. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Standardised mortality ratios, comparing all cause death rates of MPs and Lords from first election or appointment with those in the age, sex, and calendar year matched general population. RESULTS Between 1945 and 2011, mortality was lower in MPs (standardised mortality ratio 0.72, 95% confidence interval 0.67 to 0.76) and Lords (0.63, 0.60 to 0.67) than in the general population. Over the same period, death rates among MPs also improved more quickly than in the general population. For every 100 expected deaths, 22 fewer deaths occurred among MPs first elected in 1990-99 compared with MPs first elected in 1945-49. Labour party MPs had 19% higher death rates compared with the general population than did Conservative MPs (relative mortality ratio 1.19, 95% confidence interval 1.01 to 1.40). The effect of political party on mortality disappeared when controlling for education level. CONCLUSIONS From 1945 to 2011, MPs and Lords experienced lower mortality than the UK general population, and, at least until 1999, the mortality gap between newly elected MPs and the general population widened. Even among MPs, educational background was an important predictor of mortality, and education possibly explains much of the mortality difference between Labour and Conservative MPs. Social inequalities are alive and well in UK parliamentarians, and at least in terms of mortality, MPs are likely to have never had it so good.