Why swap law for politics? Neil Hodge talks to some of the many lawyers-turned-politicians to find out 

Law and politics may be a potent mix, but it is surprising just how many lawyers have successfully made the transition to elected representative. According to research by strategic communications consultancy the Madano Partnership, 12% of the elected new MPs at the 2010 general election have a legal background. 

Jonathan Reynolds, Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, was formerly a corporate lawyer at Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester. He believes there are a lot of "natural synergies" between the two professions. 

"Lawyers are skilled at absorbing large quantities of data and they can get to the crux of the argument very quickly," he says. "They also know how to critically analyse complex data and documents. All these skills are required of MPs."

Some lawyers have been fortunate to be appointed to key roles that make the most of their legal skills. Jessica Lee, Conservative MP for Erewash, who was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 2000 and practised as a barrister specialising in family law until her electoral victory in 2010, is currently the Parliamentary private secretary to Attorney General Dominic Grieve. "It is a fantastic experience and I am learning all the time," she says. 

Rocky path to glory

Yet while lawyers and law-making can make a good fit, the path to Parliament and life once there can prove as challenging as it is rewarding. So what do those who have made it to Westminster, as well as those who have fallen along the way, have to say about the triumphs and trials of swapping law for politics?

Jonathan Djanogly MP, elected in 2001 for the safe Conservative seat of Huntingdon following the retirement of sitting MP and former prime minister Sir John Major, believes that his legal background has been put to good use. 

"A large part of what MPs do is to act as a national legislator. We pass laws that require us to sit through hundreds of hours of committees debating the merits and consequences of legislation put before us. Therefore, the technical, critical and analytical skills that lawyers use on a daily basis are of tremendous value to your work as an MP."

Djanogly has held several important, law-focused roles since becoming an MP. Formerly a partner at City law firm SJ Berwin until he resigned from his position in 2009, Djanogly was appointed as shadow minister for Home, Constitutional and Legal Affairs in 2004, and in 2006 he led the Opposition team on the Companies Bill – the longest piece of legislation ever. In 2010, he became Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, a post he held until last September. 

His ministerial brief included the oversight of HM Courts Service, as well as the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Between May 2010 and September 2012, Djanogly took the lead on the reforms of bailiffs, civil litigation funding and 'no win, no fee' legal schemes. It was in this capacity that he implemented the alternative business structures provisions of the Legal Services Act of 2007. 

He has also worked on legal aid reform: in June 2011 he was among the ministers who introduced the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill to Parliament and led the Bill process until it became law on 1 May 2012.

Many lawyers-turned-MPs say they miss some aspects of their old jobs, but add that they take some comfort from the fact they are still engaging in legal issues. 

Simon Hughes, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark since 1983, was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1974. Hughes says that he still misses the work he undertook as a lawyer, going around the Midland circuit and visiting Oxford, Birmingham and Coventry, but reckons he gets his "surrogate" law from working on legal issues as an MP. 

Over the past 15 years, Hughes has been Liberal Democrat spokesperson or shadow secretary of state for Home and Legal Affairs (1999-2003), attorney general (2005-07), constitutional affairs/justice (2006-07), and he is currently a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. He has introduced several bills in Parliament seeking to amend the law on issues such as leaseholder reform, access to information, equal rights for war pensioners and – perhaps most famously – to require the Queen to pay income tax and to change the "sexist" rules of succession to the throne. 

"My legal career has been invaluable to enable me to work in these areas," says Hughes. "My plan was always to become a lawyer and not a politician, but I got blown slightly off-course. I do miss the Bar, but I have found that being an MP provides ample opportunity to still get actively involved in a broader range of legal issues."

No overnight success

While the merits of a legal background may well be applauded, they do not guarantee success at the ballot box. The overwhelming majority of lawyers-turned-MPs in this article did not reach the dizzy heights of Westminster overnight.

For example, David Nuttall, Conservative MP for Bury North, who won his seat at the 2010 general election, says he stood as a candidate in "one election or another" every year between 1983 and 2010. Nuttall, who joined a Sheffield firm of solicitors as a trainee when he was 18 and remained there until he sold it as a partner in 2006, became a Conservative in 1980 and contested a number of local government elections, spending six years as a councillor on Rotherham Borough Council from 1992 to 1996 and from 2004 to 2006. 

But a Parliamentary seat was a tougher proposition. Nuttall stood for a Westminster seat in 1997, was a Conservative candidate in the 1999 European Parliament elections, and lost out again in both the 2001 and 2005 general elections. In 2010 he was finally successful, overturning the Labour majority in Bury North, winning by a margin of 2,243 votes (5%).

"It takes years of commitment, and it can involve using up all your spare time helping the party at a grassroots level," he says. "You have to undertake political campaigning alongside your professional career – and that's not easy."

Nuttall says that his political career has taught him perseverance, which he used to great effect in his legal career: "My experiences in politics taught me that not everything goes your way. But on the whole, it is my legal career that has informed my work as an MP, rather than the other way round. 

"Legal training helps enormously because MPs are making laws: their experience in dealing with legislation on a daily basis is obviously useful, as is the knowledge that badly drafted laws can have a terrible impact on individuals, which means that we have a duty to get it right by continually checking the wording and amendments."

Balancing the workloads

Others have also found that the road to Westminster is not easy, and that the hard slog to power means juggling a heavy workload. 

Nicky Morgan, Conservative MP for Loughborough, qualified as a solicitor in 1996 while working at Addleshaw Booth (now Addleshaw Goddard) and worked as a corporate lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions at Allen & Overy from 1998 to 2002, before moving to Travers Smith to work as a professional support lawyer. The latter move, she says, "gave me a more reasonable expectation of a nine-to-five working day, which allowed me to achieve a better balance between my career, my family and my political activities".

A party member since 1989, Morgan fought her first unsuccessful electoral battle in the 2001 general election. After losing again in 2005, she was reselected for the Loughborough seat and won in 2010 by 3,744 votes. 

Since her victory, Morgan has risen quickly within the party. Last September, she became a minister as an assistant Government whip after serving two years as a Parliamentary private secretary to Universities and Science Minister David Willetts.

"I spent my whole legal career juggling another major outside career," she says. "All my holidays and weekends were spent on politics. It is difficult to give that time commitment when you have a family, but other people face similar time and work pressures with their outside work commitments, such as looking after elderly relatives or doing charity work. If you want to do something that means a lot to you, then you just have to find a way of making it work."

For some who have made the transformation from lawyer to parliamentarian, the chance to stand for election presents opportunities to show their mettle and determination. 

Lee, elected for Erewash in 2010 with a majority of 2,501 votes, had previously stood as a Parliamentary candidate for the Conservatives in Camberwell and Peckham at the 2005 general election. She finished third with 9.8% of the vote in a constituency won by incumbent Labour MP Harriet Harman.  

"The opportunity came up to fight in an election and I took it, even though the odds were against me," she says. "It was a great experience to stand and fly the flag for the Conservative Party. 

"If you don't put yourself forward then you miss out, so I decided to go for it. Losing was not really a problem – I've been involved in party politics since the age of 15 and ever since then I've stood as a candidate for various committees, so I knew that you don't always win first time round."

Steve Barclay, Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire, qualified as a solicitor in 1998 and then worked as a company lawyer for Axa Insurance, as a regulator for the Financial Services Authority, and as director of regulatory affairs and then head of anti-money laundering and sanctions at Barclays Bank.

He joined the Conservative Party in 1994 after leaving university and stood for Parliament in 1997 in Manchester Blackley – which he admits he had no chance of winning – and in 2001 in Lancaster & Wyre, where he lost by 401 votes. He was asked to stand again in the same seat in 2005, but declined due to work commitments. In January 2008, he was selected for and won North East Cambridgeshire.

"Campaigning in the working class areas of Manchester in the run-up to the 1997 election was a good way to start," he says. "The Tories were at their least popular for years and it was obvious that Labour was going to get into power. 

"But the reaction I got was a lot more positive than you'd imagine. People didn't slam doors in my face or hurl abuse. In fact, many were glad that someone had gone out to see them and hear their side of the story as Labour had done little campaigning because it was a solid seat. The experience made me more confident, and that certainly benefitted my working life."

Not for everyone

Of course, not every lawyer who stands for election will make it to Westminster – but their experiences trying to get there might just make them a better lawyer. 

Aster Crawshaw, partner in Addleshaw Goddard's professional practices group, stood for the Conservatives in the 2005 election for the seat of Sheffield Heeley, polling 4,987 votes (14.6%) and coming third. His only other attempt to stand for election was in 1997 when he stood as a Conservative candidate for Guildford South County Council, aged just 24. 

"I had few illusions about my prospects in Sheffield, but was excited to have the opportunity to cut my teeth in a challenging seat. The 2005 election was a chance to see if a career in politics would suit me." 

He adds: "Running a campaign is hard work and requires a huge time commitment. My wife and I had two young children and we were living and working in London. 

"We rented a house in Sheffield and the whole family went up most weekends for nine months or so. I had a great time, knocking on doors and getting involved in local issues, but it was hard for my family, and difficult to juggle with my job as an in-house lawyer."

Crawshaw, whose first job was with the Conservative Research Department alongside the likes of David Cameron and George Osborne, withdrew his name from the Parliamentary list after the 2005 election. "I am not planning to stand as a candidate again. It was a fantastic experience, but I eventually concluded that my future was in law, not politics."

However, he says the experience taught him several skills that have helped with his legal career: "Working on an election campaign is a great test of your team leadership and motivational skills. It also improves your communication skills. Putting yourself forward for public office also attracts attention – not all of it welcome. It certainly toughens you up, and that is not a bad thing for a lawyer."

Yet while becoming an MP may represent a milestone for those whose legal careers have progressed at the same rate as their political ambitions, not every lawyer is taken with every aspect of the working life of a parliamentarian. Hughes says that there are some real downsides to being an MP. 

"The Bar can be quite tough and rambunctious. But there is a clear distinction between one's professional and personal life, and it is not a profession where you expect to become a subject of public comment," says Hughes, whose private life came under intense media scrutiny in the mid-noughties. 

"But it was a complete surprise to me when I became a MP that those same rules did not apply to politics, and that personal abuse could be fair game. It was not something that I had bargained for at all and it can still be tough to take."

Djanogly also recognises the unwelcome aspects of being an MP: "The toll on my family life can be hard, and not just in terms of the number of hours I have to work or be available. I am in the public eye and open to public scrutiny, which is very different from the life you lead as a corporate lawyer, though I am now used to it. However, I try to keep my family out of the spotlight. 

"There are some politicians that embrace it and who have no problem with their children accompanying them to events or being photographed. But I'm not one of them. I prefer to keep my family life separate."

Open to abuse

For others, the experience of running for election can be particularly difficult, especially when personal issues overshadow abilities. Ashley Crossley, partner and chair of wealth management for Europe and the Middle East at Baker & McKenzie, is a long-standing campaigner for the Conservatives and has advised it on tax. 

But his experience of electioneering proved unpleasant in 2005 when he fought unsuccessfully for the Falmouth and Camborne seat, which was held by Labour. Crossley had clashed with local party members over claims they promoted a pro-UK Independence Party video. 

But worse was to follow. Openly gay, Crossley suffered from homophobic comments and jibes from local Tory party members and supporters, and survived a deselection vote of 'no confidence' within the local party after then Tory leader Michael Howard personally intervened on his behalf. The episode resulted in all eight of Falmouth and Camborne Conservative Association's management team being suspended by the party's Central Office. 

Crossley remains on the Parliamentary list of potential candidates to run for a seat in future, but does not think that he will make a second attempt. 

"On a personal level, the amount of time and effort that you have to put into your candidacy is difficult. I was a candidate for two years in the run-up to the election and I spent a lot of time travelling to meet constituents and help with their problems, going to meetings and giving talks. It's a lot of work."

But it was the homophobia that really left a bad impression: "I was surprised by the ferocity I encountered by a vocal minority about my sexual orientation. The overwhelming majority of people I met were OK with my being gay, but it was unsettling and unpleasant to be aware of the views of those people who had a problem with it. 

"I wanted to focus on the issues at hand and stress my suitability for the job, but my private life became a talking point instead."

Law and politics; nothing if not a potent mix.

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Age politics: when to make the switch

For many lawyers that have become MPs, their legal and political careers started at the same time – quite often in their late teens or at university. Jessica Lee MP had ambitions to be a lawyer and a politician from an early age, joining the Conservative Party when she was 15. 

"When I was 13, I told my parents that I wanted to be a barrister and an MP, and both careers have had equal appeal," says Lee.

Jonathan Djanogly MP says: "Being a lawyer and a politician are complementary and I've always had the two running together. I was a Conservative member before becoming a lawyer. My legal work has been helped by my experience in politics and vice versa." 

Jonathan Reynolds was elected as Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde in the 2010 general election and was a councillor for Tameside Council from 2007 to 2011. He served on Labour's National Executive Committee between 2003 and 2005. Reynolds admits that his political career has been longer than his legal one: he only started at the Manchester office of Addelshaw Goddard in 2009 – his first job as a lawyer – and gave it up a year later. 

"I had every intention of pursuing a career in law, but the opportunity suddenly came up to stand as a local MP and a month later I was in Parliament. It all happened very quickly," he says.

But his experience of law has already been put to good effect in Parliament. For example, Reynolds has served as an opposition assistant whip covering the shadow justice and constitutional affairs team. He is currently parliamentary private secretary to Labour leader Ed Miliband. 

While age is certainly no barrier to standing as a political candidate, there are some who believe that the "young guns" may have an advantage over those who put their names forward once their careers and family lives are more established. 

For example, Ashley Crossley (pictured) had been active with the Conservative Party since his university days and had helped organise and run campaigns at a local level, but he did not run for a political position until his early 30s. 

"I don't think that 31 is particularly old to run as an MP for the first time," says Crossley. "But those people who have run for political office in their early and mid-20s might have the advantage of developing a thicker skin and being able to shake off defeat more quickly.

"Another advantage is that they might not be at that point where their day-time careers have really taken off, or that their work requires a much deeper commitment. My legal career was developing well and after the election I took a long, hard look at which one showed more promise for the immediate future. Law won."

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No going back?

With a blossoming career as a lawyer working in chambers or at a major firm, it may seem like madness to give up a potentially lucrative job to become an MP for what might only be a four-year stint, especially for those who were elected to marginal seats. 

Jessica Lee MP only has a 2,501 majority in Erewash, which is considered a key marginal seat. But although she has chalked up 10 years as a barrister, Lee says that she has not considered returning to the legal profession should she lose the next election. "I'm concentrating on winning rather than losing. I am an MP and my focus is to retain the seat for the [Conservative] party," she says.

Steve Barclay MP does not see any safety in numbers, despite his large 16,425 majority. "If there is one thing about elections, it is that anybody can win or lose," he says. 

"Besides, no job is guaranteed anymore. I used to work at Barclays and it has just announced that 3,700 people are going to lose their jobs. Who's to say I wouldn't have been one of them? If I lose my seat, I may go back to working in the field of regulatory compliance again. But I'm enjoying politics and that opens up other options too."

But there are those such as David Nuttall MP, who says that he does not miss his old job, and that it would be unlikely he would return to legal work if he lost his seat at the next election. 

"I miss the people from the office and the atmosphere. But towards the end of my time there I was doing more administrative work than legal work, and that has little appeal for me now," he says. "I am committed to politics – at whatever level."