What is Penny Mordaunt up to?

Does Penny Mordaunt know what she’s getting herself into? One of her most striking promises is to give MPs something called ‘social capital pots’: cash to spend in their constituencies. They are part of her attempt to soothe colleagues by describing them as ‘people who want to serve’ – and to weaken the power of the Treasury. ‘I want to give you more agency to serve your community,’ she said.

This is a fascinating idea, and not just because it flatters MPs’ egos. It’s more than the ‘pork barrel politics’ some critics have alleged of the idea, because Penny Mordaunt would be significantly changing what an MP actually does. Her argument is that members are best placed to know the needs of their local areas and where the gaps in funding are. Well, yes, they do have very good local knowledge from their constituency surgeries, but there’s also this thing called local government which is supposed to be even better at it.