Tatton MP Esther McVey has hosted her first Politics Summer School.
Ms McVey came up with the idea after being contacted by large numbers of young people across the constituency wanting to do work experience with her.
The young people aged 16 to 18 experienced a taster of “everything politics” from speech writing to the passage of a Bill through Parliament (the complete process on how something becomes law); to hearing from the House of Commons head of outreach on how Parliament works.
The summer school also looked at the plethora of careers in politics besides being an MP, from being a political journalist to holding other political offices; working for an MP in the role of a parliamentary caseworker or researcher; working for a government minister as a Special Adviser (SpAd); or working as a civil service in non-partisan roles.
Ms McVey said: “As part of an introduction into speech writing, each person wrote a speech on a topic of their choosing and then debated it with the other students. Some of the topics covered were assisted dying, proportional representation, abolishing the monarchy, VAT at on private school fees and abolishing tuition fees. I was mightily impressed by their research and oratory.
“I’ve always offered work experience to Tatton students since I was first elected and I will continue to do so. This summer school was born out of the growing interest in politics by Tatton students so I thought I would do something a bit different this summer and I am glad I did.
“I had a great time with the young people and have received some fantastic feedback. I am delighted they took something from it.”
Ms McVey also arranged for the students to hear from Wilmslow born and bred GB news presenter Patrick Christys, Conservative mayoral candidate for Cheshire and Warrington Ben Fletcher, as well as Gillian, head of education outreach from the House of Commons who provided an overview of Parliament and explained how both the House of Commons and House of Lords run and Award winning Parliamentary Staffer of the Year Olivia O’Mahoney.
