Anxiety, PTSD, agoraphobia: The mental health toll on MPs who lose their seats
A new study looks at the emotional, psychological and financial challenges of life after politics
As counting winds up for the 2022 election, many former MPs are beginning a whole new life beyond Parliament.
The experience of those who lost their seats is often shattering. Former Liberal MP Tim Wilson said he was in the “fetal position crying” the morning after the 21 May poll.
Our new study of state MPs shows this experience is both common and long-lasting, with serious implications for our democracy.
And the stereotype of former parliamentarians being ‘parachuted’ into lucrative roles was not the experience of most former MPs.
