On my first day of my work experience, I was greeted by Claire's researcher, Juliet, and walked through Portcullis House to her office. Upon arrival in the office, I was warmly greeted by Claire and her communications staffer, Jack. I already felt welcome in this environment and was excited to begin the work ahead.
The first task I was given was to sort through the mail, which became the first job I did each morning. I got to read letters from constituents, gaining a valuable understanding of the issues raised by constituents of East Surrey, and observed how letters were processed and responses were crafted.
Once I’d sorted the mail, I was taken for a tour of Parliament, which I found incredibly interesting. I had been on tours twice before, but this was easily the best, as I was able to walk around both the House of Commons and House of Lords, unlike on previous visits when both chambers had been sitting.
Once I had finished the tour, I went back to the office and met other members of the team on their weekly Zoom meeting. I was then tasked with casework which involved writing letters to different constituents. I found this to be a valuable task, as it required thorough research of policy, as well as encouraging me to empathise and reassure the constituent.
The next day, I was tasked with writing a parliamentary brief on promoting Pure Mathematics across the education system. The work involved research of various policies and opinions and finding other MPs who would also back the initiative.
Afterwards, we briefly went to the terrace for lunch, which was a lovely place to sit and have some food whilst overlooking the River Thames, and it was also helped by the fact it was a sunny day.
In the afternoon, Jack talked me through a speechwriting crash course which he'd written after taking lessons from Simon Lancaster, one of Britain's top speechwriters. I found this so fascinating and eye-opening.
On my final day, I had the pleasure of watching Prime Minister's Questions in the public gallery of the House of Commons, which provided some enjoyable midday entertainment. This was followed by a brief trip to see the breathtaking view of London from the roof of the Palace.
My task for the rest of the afternoon was to write a media brief to be used by Claire and Jack for interview preparations. This required me to note the questions put to Government Ministers in recent media interviews and to identify and build on the strongest response lines. Jack and I then did a mock interview with Claire, trying to quiz her as best we could so that her arguments could be made even stronger.
Like with the other work I completed this week, I really enjoyed the fact that I was required to apply myself and complete meaningful tasks, instead of just sitting on the sidelines and watching. I really appreciated this level of responsibility and autonomy.
I’d like to thank Claire, Juliet, and Jack for making me feel at home in their office. Everyone was happy to answer my questions and I was able to contribute to discussions about policy. Juliet and Jack both told me about how they worked their way to their positions, which was invaluable to me as I prepare job applications for when I graduate university next year.
I can’t stress enough how much of an interesting and enjoyable time I’ve had working here.
