In the thick of it: what it's really like to work for an MP
Event Information
Description
What do MPs’ staff really do? Are they bag carriers? The power behind the throne? MPs in waiting? Substitute social workers? Gatekeepers? Descriptions vary, some more flattering than others…
Join us for a lively evening at Queen Mary University of London discussing the realities of working for an MP. In a demanding, sometimes insecure, environment, find out how staff ensure MPs are well-supported to address constituents’ concerns and party political needs, while dealing with daily pressures and challenges.
Speakers providing insights and anecdotes from behind the scenes at the House of Commons include:
- Imran Ahmed – Political Adviser to Hilary Benn MP
- Janet Walker – Chief of Staff to Tom Tugendhat MP
- Patrick Diamond – Lecturer in Public Policy, Queen Mary University
As well as an insight into the day to day work of Parliament, attendees will also be able to access information about careers in Parliament.
This lecture has been organised in partnership with Queen Mary University’s Mile End Institute:
About the Speakers
Patrick Diamond is a lecturer in Public Policy at Queen Mary University. He was a Special Advisor to Lord Mandelson as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and to Alan Milburn as labour’s 2005 General Election co-ordinator. From 2001 to 2005 he worked in the Number 10 Downing Street Policy Unit. Since 2005 he has been Director of the think tank Policy Network, and in 2010 was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Southwark
Janet Walker is Chief of Staff to Tom Tugendhat MP. Following a career working in the publishing industry, Janet ran a pro bono campaigning business working on high-profile miscarriage of justice campaigns. This work put her in touch with a large number of cross-party MPs and Peers including James Arbuthnot She worked as Mr Arbuthnot’s researcher for a number of years before running his office until he stood down in 2015. She then set up the office for his successor, Ranil Jayawardena MP, and now runs the office of Tom Tugendhat MP.
Imran Ahmed is Political Adviser to Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary. He spent seven years in the private sector as a corporate strategist and subsequently a strategy consultant before assisting on Andy Slaughter MP's 2010 election campaign with communications and targeting. After working on Andy's brief as a shadow justice minister, he joined Hilary Benn's office as a political adviser in his initial Shadow Communities and Local Government brief and now Hilary's role as Shadow Foreign Secretary.
