Our former editor, Ray Clarke, spent a day at Westminster with Peter Prinsley, an ENT surgeon turned Member of Parliament.
Peter Prinsley had recently retired from more than 40 years as an NHS Consultant ENT surgeon in Norfolk when he took up his new role and became, in his own words, ‘The most astonished MP in Westminster’.
In July 2024 he was elected as a Labour MP for the constituency of Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, then the third ‘safest’ Conservative seat in England. When he scanned the chamber at his first debate and realized that he was one of the oldest members, he was gently admonished for asking why a bunch of fresh-faced ‘children’ – many younger than his own – were running the country!
I caught up with Peter for a day in the House of Commons. It was a gentle autumnal London morning. I walked past the statues of austere parliamentarians of the past – including a very stern sword-carrying Oliver Cromwell – to navigate security.
Ray Clarke with Peter Prinsley.
Peter had arranged that I come to Westminster Hall, a magnificent medieval edifice, history oozing from every stone. I was greeted by Peter’s enthusiastic young researcher Harry, a Cambridge medical graduate who has eschewed a career in clinical medicine to pursue his interest in public administration. Peter and Harry delighted in showing me the magnificent chapel of St. Mary Undercroft, accessed by a flight of stairs from Westminster Hall. A broom cupboard at the back of the chapel has a particular resonance for modern-day feminists, as it was here that suffragette Emily Davison hid on the night of the 1911 census so that she could truthfully declare, in defiance of the rules at the time, that she had spent the night in the Palace of Westminster.
I was out of puff when I clambered all 55 steps to Peter’s office. He has to rush down these steps fairly nimbly at times to vote in the chamber, often late at night. His team of eight who support him between his constituency work and his Westminster duties make for a cheerful bunch. I can confirm that the venom and hostility you see between members on TV is largely confected! There are many cross-party friendships. Peter’s riverside evening jogging group includes Green, Conservative and Labour MPs, and he had played squash that morning with a former Chair of the Conservative party.
There are multiple bars and restaurants, only some of which are open to guests, where members can relax. Peter tells me some 200 chefs on the parliamentary estate cater for MPs, peers and staff. I was fortunate enough to visit the ‘Strangers’ Bar’ with a splendid terrace on the Thames looking across the water to St. Thomas’s Hospital, adjacent to which Peter has a small apartment where he now stays when in London. I did wonder how his family greeted the news that Dad’s retirement plans were now trashed, but they seem to have coped.
We complain about our elected representatives, often with good reason, but from what I saw I can vouch that parliamentarians are busy, they work long, unsocial hours with uncertain career prospects, and they take a great deal of criticism with patience and good grace. Peter has certainly been beavering away since he took up his seat, supporting the good people of Suffolk both in his constituency work – he spends at least two days a week out of London in the local community – and in his contributions to national debates.
A glance at the parliamentary records over the last year or so will attest to the breadth of Peter’s interests. Inevitably given his background he has beaten the drum on topics such as improving facilities for the hearing-impaired, getting waiting lists down, dealing compassionately with healthcare professionals in the wake of Covid, highlighting the importance of road safety and curbing the use of tobacco products and ‘vapes’ in schools. He has not shied away from difficult international issues and has had high-octane exchanges with some prominent and skilled MPs and senior ministers across all parties, including some spirited repartee with Reform leader Nigel Farage. I can confirm that Peter came off the better of the two!
His contribution to the debate on assisted dying has been widely praised. His personal experience is clearly greatly valued, not least by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and his ministers. He has even participated in two ‘resuscitations’ and is often asked to dispense advice in the corridors as colleagues ask about issues such as tonsillitis, glue ear and snoring among their family members.
I wondered how much influence a ‘backbencher’ can have and came away reassured that it can be considerable. ‘Soft power’ and a word in the ear of the decision-makers – particularly when the backbencher is known and admired for his knowledge and dedication on health issues – can be levered to great effect. Peter was, for example, able to use a casual dinner conversation to set in train a re-evaluation of hyperbaric oxygen services in London. He is heading up a parliamentary committee on deafness and is a dogged advocate for the deaf community. He is adept at using the opportunities his role gives him to opine on topics and events – such as both the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the parallel rise in antisemitism – that are dear to his heart. He urged the Foreign Secretary to take a more robust stance on humanitarian issues in Gaza and gave advice to the Prime Minister in the wake of the Manchester synagogue killings to promote greater awareness of antisemitism in schools.
I left Peter to his work in the afternoon when he was scheduled to chair a parliamentary committee on services for the hearing-impaired, following which he had booked a visit to the Westminster hairdresser. Yes, there is even a team of hairdressers on site, and it seems their salon is the very best place for gossip and rumour!
I was then lucky enough to see a live address by the Prime Minister and to hear the comments and questions of the MPs in response. The occasion was the Prime Minister’s speech welcoming the acceptance of the ‘Trump Deal’ which brought about the release of the Israeli hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza. As I had to surrender my mobile phone before taking my seat, I was a little put out to see many MPs fiddling with their phones during an important address – much like a group of bored medical students.
Peter was very much in the news following his trip to Israel to look at health-care facilities in the West Bank, where he and a colleague were denied entry, causing a diplomatic outrage. He and his team had to deal with some frenzied media enquiries as a result, and the communication skills honed over a long career as a clinician were very much put to good use. Peter is a skilled and effective communicator, and as well as a few national TV appearances he has become a much sought-after commentator on Times Radio in London. I wondered whether he was briefed by the party hierarchy or by some obscure Orwellian group of backroom figures in advance of these appearances to ensure he presented a rosy view of the government and its policies, but he wasn't, and he prides himself on being able to speak his mind – not holding ministerial office he is not an official spokesperson for the government.
A strong social media presence is almost mandatory for modern-day politicians, and Peter is no exception. Mostly his posts and responses are looked after by his team, but inevitably he is subject to the vile abuse and ‘trolling’ that comes with being in the public eye.
Those of us who work ‘at the coalface’ in the health service are often critical of politicians and administrators. I wondered whether some of the frustrations Peter must have felt in a long career as a surgeon – having to cope with limited resources – had given him a jaundiced view of politicians and whether seeing things from their perspective had been an eye-opener. I was struck by his very positive approach. His view is that despite the growing disillusionment of the general public, our representatives – and the current health ministers in particular – are committed and dedicated public servants who listen carefully and are doing their level best to ensure they run the highest quality service they can despite the resource constraints that frustrate us all.
I came away with renewed respect for parliament and for our elected representatives. Let’s hope more health-care professionals follow Peter’s example and take on the challenges of politics. Democracy, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, may not be the ideal form of government, but it beats all the others!
