Last week I had an amazing opportunity shadowing Huw in the Houses of Parliament. The experience altogether was surprisingly very interesting and eye-opening especially during the negotiations for the Brexit Deal.
Before attending this internship, I had speculations that the experience will be tedious and not as enjoyable because I thought that I would sit and watch what everyone is doing. Yet, fortunately it was different, and I was given tasks to do: read surveys, draft emails, do research, respond to emails and even attend meetings. This has made my whole week more enjoyable and educational as I was learning and helping. For example, with the help of Huw’s office I was able to draft an email to the Department for Health and Social Care after doing some research on a case that a constituent had emailed about. Huw kindly marked the letter and gave me feedback on what to change and then we sent it off.
Additionally, I was able to get an insight into a different world of politics- the constituency work. In Politics A level we do not study the amazing work the MPs do for their constituency, as we mostly focus on their work in Parliament. Through this internship I was able to see a different side to the role of MPs which Huw has helped me to understand. He kindly explained his role in the constituency and the reason he has worked with different charities- Save the Children and the National Lottery Community Fund. He was also able to explain to me what he does during his Fridays at the Constituency, for example, visiting Primary Schools to talk about their recent trip to Parliament and going to a see a Hospice under-construction. This has clearly shown to me the high amount of work that MPs put into their constituency to help them with their issues.
Moreover, I found Huw as a great MP that would take the time to brief me on what has been happening in politics, in his meetings and his whole agenda. This made me feel for the whole week part of the team. It was also fascinating to go together to the House of Commons during the PMQs where I was able to see the ministers from the Cabinet and the Shadow Cabinet, which I have been studying about in school. Also, I was amazed with Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn’s performance during PMQs as both seemed to try and communicate, for once. It was further intriguing to see the Speaker, John Bercow, and his famous saying “order, order, order”. Hence, I can definitely state that the week was an amazing experience and I do not wish to improve or change anything about it, maybe the amount of time I spent in the office as I would love to come back for a longer period and gain more knowledge and experience.
Finally, it was an amazing end to the week, where Huw’s assistant, Gozde, and I were able to find more about each other and future careers. We had a self-led tour around Parliament where both of us were amazed with the architecture and designs of the Parliament, while getting lost a couple of times.
Mihaela Revencu
