The Independent referenced Parliamentary Privilege in their voters’ guide.

In the 2010 general election, 4,150 candidates stood for Parliament, in 650 seats, with 330 standing as independents and the rest representing a total of 138 different parties. Five years earlier, 3,554 candidates had stood on behalf 119 political parties, with 180 independents.

A study of the social backgrounds of parliamentary candidates published by the Sutton Trust in February 2015 found that 31 per cent of candidates had attended private school (compared with seven per cent of the general population). Nineteen per cent were Oxbridge graduates.

Of the MPs returned to Parliament in the 2010 general election, the pre-parliamentary occupations of 14.3 per cent were defined as “politician/political organiser” – an increase of 50 per cent since 1997. Other popular occupations: “business” (118), teacher (91), lawyer (72), publisher/ journalist (43), manual worker (38); Civil Service/local government (28). There were six ex-miners – compared with 45 (all Labour) in 1945.

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