Throughout the summer, a number of local students participate in work experience in Justin’s office. During this time, they are given an opportunity to shadow Justin, speak to the office team and take part in tasks which utilise different skills and provide a chance for them to share their views.
Below are the reflections written by three of our most recent work experience students, which include their thoughts on their time spent in an MP's office.
Reflections – Keisha Ishani
Politics has always been an innate passion of mine as I believe it is extremely important to engage all ages but especially young people in the world of politics. I feel that when I became an A-level politics student this year, I realised how much I still didn’t know about politics even though I thought that I was quite knowledgeable about the subject. This week of Work Experience has made me aware of how much I still do not know about the political world and how important it is to me that education of politics is in some way compulsory within curriculum from a young age.
My perception of the role of an MP has changed dramatically. I always had a narrow-minded view of what I believed was and I confess that my view was mainly negative. I have however learnt that there are some MP’s like Justin Tomlinson and his dedicated team who do care about their constituency and community and in fact go the extra mile to ensure they do everything in their power to help and assist. I did not realise how much Justin Tomlinson and his staff did for North Swindon and greatly appreciate that there are still politicians who care as much as he does about his constituency as well as his community.
The highlight of my time during this week has been the different debates and conversations we have spontaneously encountered during our time here. These conversations were refreshing to have, especially when receiving the views of both Justin and his members of staff at his Swindon office.
Something that I have previously mentioned but deserves to be acknowledged is the extra work and time that Justin Tomlinson and his team do within the community. Most MPs would not go to the extent that Justin and his team do to reach out and provide help even when some issues are beyond their control. They're constantly trying to do all that they can to do everything in their ability to make a difference within their constituency. Personally, I think it's encouraging for a young person like myself to see an MP who truly cares because it helped to broaden my view of an MP and what they do on a day-to-day basis.
To conclude, this experience has taught me so much about myself as well as expanded my view on certain issues. It has shown me that the educating and informing of all people in our communities is essential to engaging all in the world of politics. I am very thankful that Justin and his team have given me this opportunity. I believe that my education is extremely important but without experience in the world of work I cannot put my skills into practice.
Reflections – Sarah Mabberley
My perception of the role of an MP has most certainly has changed during my time in both the London office and the Swindon office. While I was in the London office I was given the 16th of July 2018 Order Paper for the House of Commons. Expecting this to be only a couple of pages, I was shocked when I was handed 51 pages plus 64 pages of the Consideration of the Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Bill. From this Order Paper I was able to understand how much work MPs have to complete on the daily basis. The media has manipulated the people into believing that MPs don’t do the work themselves and hand their work to their staff. However from my time in the London office and the Swindon office, I am now aware that I was manipulated by the use of the media in this context as it is clear that MPs do vast amounts of work themselves. While I was in the London office I was able to sit in on Question Time and the Prime Minister’s statement and watch a debate. From this opportunity I was able to understand how all of the work in the office during that day led up to this event and the importance of the work of the MPs office staff as well as the MPs personal work. Also while I was in the Swindon office a lot of case work was being completed, this included members of the public visiting to discuss personal issues, which the staff showed they were keen to help each and every one of them. Justin’s members of staff are extremely involved with the people in Justin’s constituency which is amazing as many MPs are not this involved with the people of their constituency. I was also impressed by how often Justin tries to be at the Swindon office. I was also pleased to hear that Justin lives within Swindon, which again many MPs do not. This means that he can be more involved in local problems and understand them more as he is more aware of the town itself.
The office staff members in the Swindon office spend vast amounts of their time replying to emails as quickly as possible to the members on the public who voice their concerns or gratitude. Justin is also online with social media so he can always be contacted on different platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and his website which means that people can see what he is up to and keep them up to date with improvements happening to Swindon or subject matters that he is fighting for.
The highlight of my time as a work experience student for Justin has definitely been my time in the London office. While I was in London I had my own tour of parliament which was an amazing opportunity which I am very grateful for. The two chambers were explained to me in depth how they are used, when and who by and the history behind it all. Many of my questions were answered and I was extremely satisfied by the answers I received while on my tour. While I was in London I also had the opportunity to sit in the House of Commons during Question Time and the Prime Minister’s statement which was amazing to watch and it gave me a much wider opinion on politics and politicians role in parliament. During this I got to see how the House of Commons works and what individuals roles are in the Chamber and how this benefits the overall work of the Government. I also had the opportunity to meet different MPs and understand the different departments they work for and how their office staff members help them.
During my work experience week I was given a booklet of task to complete, including; research, briefings and my own opinionated writing.
If there was one thing I could say to a member of the public about the work I have done during my work experience week for Justin in his office it would be that I have seen firsthand the care and attention Justin and his office staff members put into their work for their constituency. Justin, unlike other MPs truly does care a vast amount about his role as an MP and tries his absolute hardest to sort through emails/letters, case work and concerns as quickly as he can, as well as regularly attending meetings, events and interviews. During my work experience week Justin has shown to me the lengths he would go to keep his constituency happy with Swindon and bigger pictures such as Brexit. Overall I have really enjoyed my week of work experience for Justin Tomlinson and I would definitely recommend anyone with a future interest in politics as a career to experience this opportunity firsthand.
Reflections – Alexandra Bridge
It’s always been my opinion that an MP above all else should be someone who actively aims to represent all the people of their constituency to the best of their ability. And that their actions in Parliament should represent the beliefs of their constituents and issues that they were passionate about in their campaign not just following the party whip. As part of this I think that it is necessary that an MP does what they can to understand and care for all constituents not just those with the same political beliefs. As well as this I think that an MP should be proactive in their community. I think that this experience has really established that belief and seeing how involved Justin is within his constituency compared to many other MPs shows the clear positive impact that involvement in the community can have on people’s lives. Previous to this experience I also had the perception that individually MPs didn't have that much influence but knowing more about what MPs are involved in, nationally and locally, daily has changed this view.
Before this experience I was surprised by how often the office staff are contacted by constituents and how much work they do to listen to their concerns and help advise them and solve their issues.
The highlight of attending the office this week was the ability to have discussions and debates about different issues and current events. Being able to have these discussions with people who have different views than me or asking me about topics that I wouldn't have necessarily thought about before has helped me develop and strengthen my beliefs and realise what is most important to me about politics.
If there was one thing that I could say to the members of the public about the work done in Justin’s office it would be that many people don't realise what an active role that they take in supporting constituents. Also what an effort is put into being proactive in the community and how much this has benefited charities and vulnerable people, just to name some.
