The Political Intern
Monday, 16 November 2009
There was some interesting research done by trade union Unite on political interns in Westminster showing a whopping 450 unpaid interns working in London as ConservativeHome reports.
On the face of it it's not the worse thing in the world if people are interested in politics and want to see how it works in practice (and work on the premise that politics in practice occurs at Parliament!) then they can experience it without costing the taxpayer a penny.
But there are not a lot of young people who can afford to work for free even for a day a week never mind those 'working' full time for 9 months like one intern I got to know. What it means is that only people who are particularly wealthy - or more to the point those whose parents are particularly wealthy and willing to bankroll them - are able to work in our national parliaments.
It's not exactly an accident that when you look at Holyrood and Westminster it is an almost exclusively middle class club in terms of the staff.
It is also worth making a point of how important young people are in political parties. There are issues with young people and how they are perceived. It's easy to sneer at young people who join a party and certainly I didn't go through the thought process of wanting to be in politics and choosing a party - if it wasn't for the Labour Party I wouldn't be a member of any party.
But I tell you no one is complaining when they are told to travel to the other end of the country in a cramped bus to campaign in a marginal seat, no one is complaining when they are up at 6am to do the early morning leaflet and here no one complains when they are used as free labour by politicians.
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3 comments:
That is Sir Christopher Kelly hidden agenda to turn Westminster back into the preserve of middle class.
Most of his changes impact disproportionately on working class people which was obviously his intention.
For me, I did choose which political party to join through a thought proccess. It wasn't neccesarily "I want a career in politics", just I was young and had the opportunity to look through and see which one fit my ideals the best (it was between those at the left of Labour and Labour itself)
However, it is true what you are saying. Leaving uni at the end of the year, if I were to turn round to my maw and pa and say "I'm going to work nine months in London for nothing, give me the money" I'd know the response I'd get would involve the word off and another in fron of it begining with F.
I see myself in a limbo between working and middle class however. I'd argue it isn't simply the middle class who can afford it, but those of the upper middle class. For me, that kinda makes things worse.
I think those parties on the left (and organisational think tanks) have to look at this proccess and open it up a bit more to those on the lower end to make sure that anyone who wishes a career in politics can gain access to internships. It may over time bring those at the lower end of society into politics that bit more, which is always beneficial!
Mr Mxyzptik
A thief is a thief, whether working or middle class.
Yousuf
"if it wasn't for the Labour Party I wouldn't be a member of any party."
Not a bad idea. There are still a few councillors out there who are affiliated to no-one, and went into politics to improve their community and society through honorable public service. I suspect this is lost on many people who go into politics.
On your main point, many apprentices get virtually nothing in the first couple of years of an apprenticeship, so why should it be any different for political interns?
I'm also interested in your point about the importance of "young people" in political parties. I don't disagree with you, but you've not set out any reasoning.
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