The first intake of interns of the Speaker’s Parliamentary Placement Scheme began their eight month internships on 7 November 2011.
The scheme, an initiative of Members of Parliament Hazel Blears, Eric Ollerenshaw and Jo Swinson, offers ten paid internships to individuals from diverse backgrounds and helps to make access to and experience of Parliament representative of the UK population.
The ten interns, aged 20-55, have all been assigned to a Member and will spend the majority of their time working in their offices. In addition, they will spend one day a week working in various departments across the House of Commons Service and attending a range of development activities.
The scheme will be run in association with the Social Mobility Foundation, who organise similar schemes for other professions.
The participating Members on the scheme are:
- Hazel Blears MP (Salford & Eccles)
- Mike Crockart MP (Edinburgh West)
- Simon Danczuk MP (Rochdale)
- Helen Grant MP (Maidstone & The Weald)
- Karl McCartney MP (Lincoln)
- Siobhain McDonagh MP (Mitcham and Morden)
- Esther McVey MP (Wirral West)
- Ed Miliband MP (Doncaster North)
- Amber Rudd MP (Hastings & Rye)
- Jo Swinson MP (East Dunbartonshire)
Further information
Applications for next year will open after May 2012 and will be advertised by the Social Mobility Foundation (external site). Read more about the interns first week in Parliament Speaker welcomes first intake of interns from new placement scheme.
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