High Peak Liberal Democrats

The costly process of becoming an election candidate

The process of becoming an MP is long and expensive - involving not one, but two campaigns

Julia Cambridge - PPC Chesterfield

The one familiar to most people is where a party's candidate tries to persuade constituents to put a cross next to their name on the ballot paper at a general election.

Lucy Care - PPC Derby North

But before that, anyone who wants to be an MP must battle others from their own party to get selected for that seat.

Michael Mullaney - PPC Bosworth

This process in itself can be arduous.

Joe Naitta - PPC Derby South

In the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, you must go through an assessment process in order to make it on to a centrally approved list.

"It's all very professionalised, there's a competency framework, but I knew it wasn't a pass-fail test. The competency framework is useful - it will tell you what your strengths are. I believe I'm good at expressing my party's values, so that's my strength."

In the Conservatives, some who do particularly well at the assessment centre are cleared to apply for any seat. Others will be cleared to put themselves forward for specific seats.

After deciding on a seat, hopefuls must then campaign for the votes of local party members. This will usually involve contacting every single party member in a constituency.

Following hustings, in which potential candidates face questions from party members, the local party elects its preferred representative.

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Out of pocket

Some party activists believe the cost of becoming a candidate favours people with personal wealth to draw on. Research by Iain Dale in 2006 put the cost of being a candidate at around £41,000.

"I initially thought I couldn't do it at all because I was a teacher," Ms Moran admitted.

"You have to be resourceful. I knew it was going to be expensive, so I had to build up savings and get a second job (with an organisation offering revision courses)."

Naomi Smith, a Lib Dem who contested the safe Conservative seat of Cities of London and Westminster in 2010, argued that it is even more difficult for those representing smaller parties.

"Labour has the support of the trade unions and the Conservatives tend to get more corporate donations, meaning the Lib Dems - sadly - often end up selecting candidates who are personally wealthy," she observed.

"If you want to make it a truly level playing field you'd have to consider some sort of state funding, and that would never fly with voters."

Candidates on all sides were more open to the idea of expanding public duty leave, a provision which allows employees a certain amount of days' absence to pursue civic activities, such as becoming a school governor.

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Baptism of fire

Aside from the financial cost, putting yourself forward for selection can also be a drain on your time and resilience.

"The biggest complaint about politics is we don't have enough representative candidates and a big factor in that is most people cannot take extended periods of leave from their job - we need to address that in order to invest in democracy."

Several parties run schemes aimed at encouraging a range of people to put themselves forward. In Labour, there is training and support through the Future Candidates scheme. The Lib Dems have the Access to Elected Office initiative, aimed at helping disabled people get elected.

The question of how candidates are chosen and funded will continue to dominate debates at Westminster as parties reach for the right response to events in Falkirk.

The idea of holding more open primaries - where candidates are not pre-approved by the party - is gaining traction. It has been championed by Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston (herself elected in an open primary) and shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan, among others.

With the passage of the Fixed-Terms Parliament Act, one thing is certain: the UK will next go to the polls in 2015. But for most of the names on the ballot paper, the battle begins now, under closer scrutiny than ever.

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