Lily joined my team for a week of work experience in the constituency and in Westminster. This is her account of her week:
After being offered work experience when I interviewed Huw for my college magazine late last year, I couldn’t wait for the chance to grab this opportunity and really explore what it means to be an MP and what it would be like to work for one! Despite expecting an ordinary week, I was ecstatic when this particular week included what became one of the most exciting and electric 48 hours in political history.
The beginning of the week started fairly normally. In the constituency office on Monday, I was introduced to the team (Craig and Frances) and took some interesting tasks on to settle into the role including data organising and analysis as well as constructing a research brief for one of Huw’s meetings. On Tuesday, I met Ella and Joe in the Westminster office and they led me through drafting response emails and creating more briefs. I found this really interesting and educational, especially being able to access research materials that I had never seen before.
It was on Tuesday evening, on the train home, that everything started to go crazy! Westminster was ignited on Wednesday with shock spreading and rumours swirling as a flood of resignations rocked Portcullis. I then had the amazing opportunity to sit in the Liaison Committee meeting and watch Huw, along with the other Chairs of the Select Committees, interrogate the Prime Minister. The atmosphere was buzzing as everyone in the room clung onto every word (or indistinct mumble) that the PM had to say. It’s an experience I will never forget and my highlight of the week.
Despite being back in the constituency office on Thursday, the environment was just as energised as we watched the PM finally resign and with one eye on the news at all times, normality returned to the office. I got to learn about what a Caseworker does as Penny explained the intricacies of dealing with different issues brought to the office by the public. I found this particularly informative and enlightening in terms of understanding how crucial this job is and how diverse working in this environment can be.
Friday was one of my other highlights of the week as I got to shadow Huw and Frances with constituency visits and meetings around Bexhill. It was lovely to see how Huw genuinely cares about constituency matters just as much as his work in London. I really enjoyed this day as I got to spend some one-on-one time with Huw in between meetings which I really appreciated.
Overall, this week was one of the most chaotic of my life, in the best way possible! It was an overwhelming but amazing experience, one that I will never forget. I’m incredibly grateful to the team for including me in every way and giving me a true insight into what a political career could look like. It has definitely affirmed my love of politics and desire to work in this world in the future.