by Naomi Smith
Recently I was lucky enough to undertake a work shadowing placement in Westminster with my local MP, Gillian Keegan. At first I was a little disappointed to hear that this would be taking place during the suspension of Parliament, concerned I would spend most of the day bored and observing very little (as Gillian would not be speaking in the chamber). It turns out the role of an MP is far greater than simply debating in the Commons and even during the proroguing of Parliament the day of an MP was long and tiring with most days finishing at or after 11pm.
The role involves so much more than legislating, an MP has to handle constituency casework, campaigning, the media, work for their party and so much more. In the morning, I met Gillian where she was being interviewed at Policy Exchange, a British centre-right think tank described by the Daily Telegraph as "the largest but also the most influential think tank on the right". I learnt about Women2Win, a group which Gillian supports, encouraging more women to run as Conservative MPs. It was founded in 2005 by Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (whom I was lucky enough to meet) and Theresa May when there were just 17 female Conservative MPs.
Afterwards, we went back to Gillian’s office where she and her team read many emails and letters from constituents, drafted responses, managed their website etc before Gillian had to meet some of her other constituents in Westminster Hall for lunch. This was quickly followed by a panel concerning social mobility with fellow MP Justine Greening. Then after further admin in the office I had to leave Parliament at around 5pm but the day of an MP was nowhere near drawing to a close. Gillian still had another event and a lot more office work with her team. Despite only viewing a mere snapshot into an MP's life I was fascinated that so much more goes into the role than what we see in the press, and on TV. I cannot thank Gillian and her team enough for such an insightful visit and for being so welcoming.
Sources:
https://www.women2win.com
The Daily Telegraph
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| Gillian Keegan MP |
Recently I was lucky enough to undertake a work shadowing placement in Westminster with my local MP, Gillian Keegan. At first I was a little disappointed to hear that this would be taking place during the suspension of Parliament, concerned I would spend most of the day bored and observing very little (as Gillian would not be speaking in the chamber). It turns out the role of an MP is far greater than simply debating in the Commons and even during the proroguing of Parliament the day of an MP was long and tiring with most days finishing at or after 11pm.
The role involves so much more than legislating, an MP has to handle constituency casework, campaigning, the media, work for their party and so much more. In the morning, I met Gillian where she was being interviewed at Policy Exchange, a British centre-right think tank described by the Daily Telegraph as "the largest but also the most influential think tank on the right". I learnt about Women2Win, a group which Gillian supports, encouraging more women to run as Conservative MPs. It was founded in 2005 by Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (whom I was lucky enough to meet) and Theresa May when there were just 17 female Conservative MPs.
Afterwards, we went back to Gillian’s office where she and her team read many emails and letters from constituents, drafted responses, managed their website etc before Gillian had to meet some of her other constituents in Westminster Hall for lunch. This was quickly followed by a panel concerning social mobility with fellow MP Justine Greening. Then after further admin in the office I had to leave Parliament at around 5pm but the day of an MP was nowhere near drawing to a close. Gillian still had another event and a lot more office work with her team. Despite only viewing a mere snapshot into an MP's life I was fascinated that so much more goes into the role than what we see in the press, and on TV. I cannot thank Gillian and her team enough for such an insightful visit and for being so welcoming.
Sources:
https://www.women2win.com
The Daily Telegraph
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