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New MPs elected in 2024 standing in the House of Commons chamber, 9 July 2024 (UK Parliament CC BY)<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019ve taught parliamentary studies to final year undergraduate students in the Politics Department\u00a0for the last seven years. This is an exciting module, sponsored by the UK Parliament, who provide\u00a0expert speakers to visit campus and who organise a field trip to Parliament every year for students\u00a0on the course. In the 2024-25 academic year I wanted to develop the way that I taught\u00a0representation, which tended to be focused on political party organisation and on the\u00a0constituency work carried out by MPs. Students have always been really interested in talking\u00a0about descriptive and substantive representation and in understanding the experiences of\u00a0different MPs who may face different challenges and who may conceive their representative role\u00a0very differently. There is a great deal of literature on issues of descriptive and substantive\u00a0representation, but it is very difficult to find any material from MPs themselves.<\/p>\n
With the help of Diversifying The Curriculum funding, my project aimed to create a set of\u00a0resources of MPs talking about representation \u2018in their own words\u2019. Students from my 2024-25\u00a0parliamentary studies class came together to curate a set of briefings on MPs of their choice who\u00a0had emphasised particular types of representation in the House of Commons. They researched\u00a0their MP\u2019s parliamentary contributions, media appearances and social media and wrote a set of\u00a0concise two-page briefings bringing together everything that they could to better conceptualise\u00a0their MP\u2019s view of representation and their representative role. In total we produced six briefings\u00a0focusing on issues of age, disability, geography, race and family\/caring responsibilities, drawing\u00a0on the experiences, parliamentary contributions and media comment from six MPs (Sam Carling,
Andrew George, Jess Philips, Sarah Smith, Marie Tidball and Zarah Sultana).<\/p>\n
The students went on to contact the MP in question to ask them to participate in a short, recorded\u00a0interview to discuss representation further. MPs are very busy people and rarely have the time to\u00a0participate in student research, so we were delighted that two MPs (Andrew George and Sarah\u00a0Smith) agreed to take part. These short, ten-minute interviews took place online in Spring 2025. Although I was present throughout, it was the students who developed the questions that they
wanted to ask and who ultimately led the interview. They did an absolutely incredible job, and the\u00a0conversations revealed some fascinating insights into geographical representation at\u00a0Westminster and into the challenges of being an MP when you have caring responsibilities; both\u00a0issues of real importance.<\/p>\n
The students\u2019 briefings and the recorded interviews will be posted on the module\u2019s Canvas site\u00a0and will be a key resource for students taking parliamentary studies in the coming years, providing\u00a0a window into the experiences of this group of MPs. The project also brought real benefits to the\u00a0students themselves and, as their own testimony documents, provided a new way of engaging\u00a0with the course content, as well as helping them build their confidence in communicating with\u00a0elected representatives:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAs a neurodivergent student I often find it quite difficult to navigate topics that are\u00a0taught all on paper and are highly theoretical. Getting the chance to conduct an\u00a0interview with a sitting MP was an invaluable learning experience for me, along with the\u00a0great in person talks Louise organised throughout the module. This sort of hands-on\u00a0experience is not only incredibly exciting but (in my opinion) is a great, creative way of\u00a0engaging students with the course content, and in doing so making it much more\u00a0accessible.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
(Joe Taylor, BASS student 24-25)<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u201cI signed up for the parliamentary studies module simply wanting to learn more about\u00a0the UK parliament- but I walked away with so much more. With inspiring guest talks and\u00a0our learning brought to life through a visit to the Houses of Parliament, this module stood\u00a0out as a highlight of my degree. Representation is vital to our democracy, and I was\u00a0incredibly proud and excited to have the opportunity to interview an MP as part of project\u00a0that aims to diversify and enhance our understanding of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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