Suffolk MPs are like cast of Dad's Army!

SUFFOLK'S MPs could look like the platoon from Dad's Army marching to Westminster after the next general election, The Evening Star can reveal today.

None have so far announced they are standing down which means three of the county's seven MPs will be pensioners if the next election is not held until May 2010 - and another two will be more than 60-years-old.

The youngest will be 48 when the election is called.

At a time when politicians in Westminster are talking about the need for new start and a need to reconnect with the voters, in Suffolk change is not on the agenda.

Gavin McClure was the youngest-ever chairman of Ipswich Conservative Association when he took on the top job at the age of 26.

He is now no longer chairman, but he is a borough councillor and said there were problems for young people trying to stand for parliament.

“It is quite a costly thing to do - you need to have saved a lot of money because you need to work hard without any income coming in from it.

“That is why MPs tend to be elected when they are older - or they have an independent income behind them.”

But Mr McClure did not feel it would be right to set an age limit on MPs. “That should be a matter for individual associations and their members - if they feel it is right for an MP to give way to a younger person they should have a quiet word in his or her ear,” he said.

Ipswich council Labour group leader David Ellesmere was just 25 when first elected to the borough - he is now 39.

He did not support an upper age limit - but did feel it was important that MPs should represent a cross-section of ages and experiences. And he did not feel age was necessarily a bar to activity.

“I know some 70-year-olds who are very active, worked very hard for their party and their constituents - and I've known some people in their 20s who have been very lazy!

“It is necessary to have people of varying experiences though - a 70-year-old might not understand what makes youngsters tick but on the other hand a 20-year-old might not be able to empathise with the concerns of pensioners.”

Suffolk's MPs:

Sir Michael Lord (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) - born October 1938

John Gummer (Suffolk Coastal) - born November 1939

Tim Yeo (South Suffolk) - born March 1945

Richard Spring (West Suffolk) - born September 1946

Bob Blizzard (Waveney) - born May 1950

Chris Mole (Ipswich) - born March 1958

David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) - born April 1962.