We had a successful series of events over the winter period, all of them on-line with four Universities; Exeter, Leeds, Westminster and Brunel.
In November Linda Gilroy (Plymouth Sutton 1997-2010) led a session for Exeter University on Parliamentary scrutiny and the work of select committees, followed in December by Edwina Currie (South Derbyshire 1983-1997) on Representation and Parliament. A third session, on The Fixed Term Parliament Act and Boundary Reviews, which was due to be led by Bridget Prentice (Lewisham East 1992-2010) has been postponed but is being rescheduled.
We have re-established links with the University of Leeds and, in December, Margot James (Stourbridge 2010-2019) led a very lively session on Policy change and the role of MPs.
We resumed our programme with Brunel University in December when Tom Levitt (High Peak 1997-2010) led a session on Select Committees and Scrutiny.
For the first time, links were established with The University of Westminster when Helen Jones (Warrington North 1997-2019) led the concluding seminar of a series on How Parliament works, covering the Blair/Brown years.
The feedback from tutors has been very positive and the questions and discussion have often ranged over a much wider area than the title of the sessions would suggest. Such has been the interest of students that many sessions have gone beyond their scheduled time.
We have an event planned for Birmingham University to mark International Women’s Day in March.
A selection of comments from tutors –
“Engaging with real-life practitioners who live politics is so important and adds an invaluable human touch to (usually dry) academic readings on Parliament.”
“This was the last class of the module and what a high note on which to end! I very much hope that you can do this again for us next year”
The speaker “was very approachable and engaging – and came armed with lots of examples and anecdotes that students found interesting and useful”
The speaker “was very engaging, clear, communicative, but also made students feel at ease to ask questions”
“This was an excellent talk”. The speaker was “fantastic in understanding exactly what I was after, in terms of using her insights and experience as an MP and as Minister, to talk through the process and pressures involved in passing legislation. This was invaluable for the students”.
PARLIAMENTARY OUTREACH TRUST 