Political brief

With election fever gathering pace, the Gazette launches a series looking at the parties and their lawyers with Stephen Ward talking to four lawyers who have traded their clients for constituentsAlthough it is not yet official, in early June a select group of solicitors will be far more nervous than most of the profession.

Some 28 solicitor MPs will be at their constituencies awaiting the result of the democratic process in the general election that it is assumed will be held on 7 June.

There are 29 solicitors in the House of Commons, including two Scots - 15 from Labour, 10 Conservatives, two from Plaid Cymru and two Liberal Democrats.

Arguably the most famous is the minister for Europe, Keith Vaz, who is actually a solicitor turned barrister and no longer has a practising certificate.

The most senior is Ieuan Wyn Jones, president of Plaid Cymru.But many solicitor MPs maintain their right to practise, which they see as keeping them in touch with the real world.

Nonetheless, there is a curious relationship between solicitor MPs and their profession.

As John Ludlow, the Law Society's lead lobbyist, points out: 'Solicitors in the House of Commons are sometimes cautious of being seen as a solicitor first and foremost.

They can be worried that they are seen to be representing a professional body and that might conflict with their duties as a constituency MP.' Solicitors in the Commons would emphasise that their primary responsibility is to represent the interests of their constituents.

Mr Ludlow says that on balance the Law Society maintains a productive relationship with solicitor MPs.

'It is particularly useful to have good solicitor contacts during the amendment stages of a highly technical bill.

It is useful to have contact with people who understand what you are talking about, and sometimes that can only be a solicitor.'

One of DavidLock's roles as junior minister to Lord Irvine's Lord Chancellor for the past two years has been to play down his government's perceived encouragement of the media description of lawyers as 'fat cats'.'I've repeatedly said that lawyers who work for public funds do tough, challenging and difficult work for modest returns,' he protests.

'It doesn't matter how often I say that, I still get accused of referring to lawyers as "fat cats".

It is difficult to shake off the overstuffed feline image, but it doesn't fit.' He says being a lawyer is not a prerequisite for his job, but for the former barrister and legal adviser to the Labour Party, it has been useful being a poacher turned gamekeeper.

'I have a practical reservoir of experience to draw on, where a non-lawyer would have to rely more on civil servants.

Also, I am perhaps able to spot the difference between a genuine point and when somebody is putting a debating point with enormous skill; the skill can obscure the merits of the arguments.

Being a lawyer you see through that.' He says the Law Society, particularly under its President, Michael Napier, and the Bar Council, have both been extremely effective pressure groups, serving the interests of lawyers well.

'I think it's a very difficult job and until you're in it you can't see the problems and the conflicts.

It's very easy to be an armchair politician,' he says.

He says he is making no assumptions about the next parliament.

He has been subjected to local criticism, which he maintains is unjustified, over the closure of a hospital in Kidderminster.

'I have no idea if I will be still at the Lord Chancellor's Department, somewhere else, on the back benches, or indeed doing something completely different.

I think the latter is quite unlikely,' he says.

As the Conservatives' spokesman on housing and local government, Mr Waterson's experience as a shipping and maritime solicitor is not directly relevant, but the background has been useful, he says.

'I was leading for [the Conservatives] on the Housing Bill, and I worked very closely with the Law Society on the business of sellers' packs.

I'm not a conveyancer, but I could see it was going to make the business of selling houses more difficult and more expensive,' he says.

'I deal with matters of planning as well which, again, has a major legal dimension to it.' The training has also been a help with his regular Friday night meetings with constituents.

'A fair proportion of the problems which come to me in my advice surgeries have a legal aspect to them,' he says.

'That's one of the reasons I keep my practising certificate current.

I'm keeping up with what's happening in the law, because people do have legal problems.

I'm not in a position (as an MP) to give them legal advice as such, but I can point them in the right direction.' He foresees further Labour attacks on lawyers in the coming weeks.

'This is clearly a government not sympathetic to the professions, and they see "professions-bashing" as a vote-winning exercise, so there's going to be a lot more of that.'It's no coincidence it has been put in the shop window.

They seem to have a thing about "fat cat lawyers", 'he says.

But does he see himself as representing lawyers in Parliament.

'No, that wouldn't be appropriate,' he says.

As a former mergers and acquisitions lawyer at City giant Clifford Chance, Mr Ruffley made a conscious choice when he entered Parliament to avoid a front-bench portfolio, and to concentrate on policies other than law.

'I think I can do a lot more effective scrutiny of this government's executive by ranging across the whole waterfront,' he explains.As an opposition spokesman you can only talk about your brief.

'As a backbencher, I can talk about ten different things a week if I want to.'He contends that there is a risk if you are persuaded to take a legal portfolio on the grounds that 'nobody except a lawyer can understand it', that you will become what he calls 'ghettoised' for ten to 15 years.

As a member of the important finance select committee, and a former chief political adviser to Kenneth Clarke when he was Chancellor, he has stood out on the opposition benches notably for his attacks on the detail of Chancellor Gordon Brown's financial dealings.

Before that, when he was on the public administration select committee, he embarrassed the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, over the wallpaper bills for his flat and over his 'Cardinal Wolsey' role on all the important Cabinet committees.

'We had a cross-examination at his expense,' Mr Ruffley says.He also enjoyed giving the chief executives of the big four high street banks a grilling over account charges.

Although he avoids legal briefs in the Commons, he says his legal training has made him a more effective MP.

'If you are cross-examining a witness to a select committee, the odds are if you have a legal training you are going to do it in a more efficient way.

The witnesses don't want to divulge information and don't want to give anything away.

That's why they're in front of the committee - for a good kicking, to have their record scrutinised.' While his majority is slim, he says if the Tories were able to hold the seat in 1997 - their worst election for a century - they will win it this time.

Arriving from his partnership in Russell Jones & Walker, Andrew Dismore was brought down with a bump by the facilities in the Commons.

'One thing I was not prepared for was the sheer volume of constituency work coupled to the woefully inadequate resources.' He would like to spend more time legislating and helping constituents, and less time filing and photocopying.

He has stayed a personal injury partner at his firm, although he says he is not running any litigation because it would be impossible while he is in the House.'It means although I don't have first-hand experience of the changes over the last four years, I do have the opportunity at very close second hand to discuss the reforms and how they have been implemented, and to take points up,' he says.A lot of this experience is gained not on the floor of the chamber, but in meetings, discussions and correspondence with ministers.It has been a busy area, because this Parliament has seen legal aid removed by his government from nearly all personal injury cases.

'I was concerned about it,' he says.

'My main worries were that it should still be available for cases where a conditional fee is not suitable, and I think we pretty well achieved that.' He says: 'The constituency has to come first, and personal hobby horse campaigns come down the queue.' But he did campaign successfully for a Holocaust Memorial Day - on behalf of many of his constituents and the Jewish community at large.

'That's where I have changed the world a bit,' he says.

Stephen Ward is a freelance journalist

David Lock Aged 40, the junior minister captured his Wyre Forest constituency in the West Midlands from the Conservatives in 1997, overturning a majority of more than 9,000 to win by 6,946 votes.

The result leaves the Conservatives needing a swing of 12.6% swing to recapture the seat.

Nigel Waterson Aged 50, he regained Eastbourne for the Conservatives on the Sussex coast in 1992, and held it in 1997 with a majority of 1,994, leaving the Liberal Democrats needing a swing of 3.8% to regain it.

David Ruffley Aged 38, he entered Parliament when he narrowly held Bury St Edmunds, a semi-rural seat, for the Conservatives in 1997, with a majority of 368, down from more than 10,000.

Labour would need a swing of 0.7% to win the seat.

Solicitors In the HouseHazel Blears, Labour; Des Browne, Labour; John Burnett, Liberal Democrat; Bill Cash, Conservative; Keith Darvill, Labour; Andrew Dismore, Labour; Frank Doran, Scottish Labour; Maria Eagle, Labour; Michael J Foster, Labour; Harriet Harman, Labour; Alan Hurst, Labour; Helen Jones, Labour; Ieuan Wyn Jones, Plaid Cymru; David Kidney, Labour; Archy Kirkwood, Scottish Liberal Democrat; Eleanor Lang, Conservative; Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru; Humfrey Malins, Conservative; Patrick Nicholls, Conservative; Mike O'Brien, Labour; Richard Ottoway, Conservative; David Ruffley, Conservative; Gary Streeter, Conservative; John M Taylor, Conservative; Peter Temple-Morris, Labour (not standing); Peter Viggers, Conservative; Clare Ward, Labour; Nigel Waterson, Conservative; Keith Vaz (solicitor turned barrister), Labour