beats shuffle speculation

Why yes, as it turns out – but we’re not going to tell you who it is, because that would take all the fun out of today’s quiz, which I’ll get to in a minute.

Anyway, while attempting to back up the contention that there has been at least one Attorney General who wasn’t a lawyer (which actually doesn’t seem to be true, although it’s apparently not officially required, and yes, this was all about the whole Jason Kenney for Justice Minister thing), I found myself once again transfixed by the treasure trove of arcane historical information buried within the parliamentary website: this time, by the occupations database, which contains a complete record of pre-political careers for every MP who has ever sat in the House of Commons, from 1867 until today – although it hasn’t yet been updated to include the freshman class of 2008.

Gone, sadly, are the days when gentlemen and persons of independent means sat in the House alongside telegraphers and distillers; somehow, “businessman” – of which there were 63 in the last parliament – doesn’t have quite the same cachet, although at least that’s a little less ephemeral than “consultant”(43), “manager” (27) and “advisor” (6).

And so, the challenge –- unmask the following twelve mystery MPs based on their previous (or, in some cases, ongoing) occupations:

UPDATE: Scroll down — waaaaay down — for the answers.