What do MPs do when parliament is prorogued?

Parliament has been suspended for five weeks, prompting outrage – mostly directed at the prime minister, who stands accused of misleading the Queen about his reasons for asking her to send MPs away from Westminster.

Many MPs are relieved Boris Johnson is soaking up the anger. They know it might otherwise be directed at them. Another five weeks off? Haven’t they just had a six-week holiday? Well, yes and no. The truth is that most MPs work hard, although a minority can get away with doing very little work at all. This is almost nothing to do with the dates on which the House of Commons is formally sitting.

Even when parliament is in session, a lazy MP doesn’t have to be there much. Most MPs are subject to a party whip, and so they are required to turn up to vote on occasional afternoons and evenings. But there are now 35 independents, who can choose for themselves whether to vote or not.

And when parliament is not sitting, MPs have a caseload of constituency work that expands to fill the time, energy and staff that are available. Most MPs are driven by ambition or public duty, or both, and end up working too hard.

The problems of constituents – housing, immigration, benefits, schools – are complicated and time-consuming. On top of that there are local interests: employers, charities, associations – and local parties that have to be worked constantly, especially at times such as these when “deselection” is a vogue word in both main parties.

It is difficult for an MP to be promoted if they get a reputation as a poor constituency MP, so the ambitious ones have to work hard in their constituency as well as in Westminster. This is notoriously tough on MPs with children, and they have to decide whether to base the family in London or in their constituency.

This is harder than it used to be because local parties increasingly want to select candidates who are genuinely local and who will promise to (continue to) live in the constituency.

For those MPs who are still hoping for high office, the long hours, the travelling and the mindless abuse on social media (and occasionally in real life) are worth it. Once ambition dims, or the burning desire to be a glorified social worker cools, however, some MPs find the life unpleasant. I know at least one who was desperate for an election next month so they could get out.

Usually, though, older MPs tend to want to stay in the job as long as they can. There may be some who will take the chance of a slightly longer than usual party conference recess to take a slightly longer than usual second holiday.

The ambitious MPs will go to their party conferences and be booked into more fringe meetings than it is physically possible to attend, whereas the former junior spokesperson who has been overlooked in the last three reshuffles might think they are better off at home working on their novel.