Politics

Government & Politics

POLITICS SOCIETY Lord Jonny Oates

Lord Jonny Oates, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, visited us in March at the invitation of Tom Evans. Lord Oates gave a summary of his varied career and interests, which include acting as Nick Clegg’s Chief of Staff in the Coalition government, working as a councillor for the Kingston borough and, since 2009, acting as Director of Communications for Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister under David Cameron. Much of what we learn about the role of the House of Lords and its work is gleaned from textbooks and political journals, so it was instructive to hear first-hand how peers scrutinise and hold the government to account. Among the little-known gems was the news that the present Johnson government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill had been defeated by the Lords on more occasions than even in the 1970s. He now plays a key role as Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change with a special focus on energy independence for the UK. Our students asked apposite and topical questions on a variety of areas including Cop 26, the war in Ukraine, nuclear energy, the role of third parties and the Tigray famine in Ethiopia to name just a few.

James Heale, OK 2013

James visited us in January to share his experience and knowledge of working as a journalist for The Spectator magazine. He has previously worked for the Mail on Sunday and was active in student political journalism while at university. The talk opened with a witty introduction by Faran Shaheen, who adroitly selected a series of tweets made by James over the years, some being rather controversial. In his talk, which was thoroughly engaging and amusing, James gave us valuable and, on occasion, eye-opening insights into the work of a Diary Editor for a nationally recognised publication. We were regaled with fascinating stories of what it was like to be a Spectator journalist when Boris Johnson was its editor as well as the occasionally dangerous work carried out in the interest of journalistic research. James encouraged questions from our students which were far ranging and broadly focused. Questions about ‘party gate’ leaks, female MPs, the war in Ukraine, politicians and lobbying amongst others were all handled with good humour and grace by James. His visit was one of the most enjoyable hosted by the Politics Society for many years and we are already looking forward to his return.

NATIONAL POLITICS QUIZ

A group of committed A Level students made up our team – The Maybots – for the weekly Facebook politics quiz each Thursday. After an up and down season, which saw us reach the heady heights of 11th position in December in this league of 185 schools, we ended the series in 28th place. This was a brilliant result overall and team members are listed below for posterity with their average points score in percentage terms. Freddie Pflanz 92%; Charlie Canning 92%; Oli Dawson 90%; Arthur Prince 88%; Sasha Lacey 76%; Adam Nasir 74%; Faran Shaheen 72%; Issy Rosser 68%; Daniel Fletcher 68%; Tom Evans 67%; Ed Orrell 66%; Jack Shaikh 66%, Findlay Clay 65%. Mr D Sorley, Head of Politics POLITICS IN ACTION Two Sixth Formers arranged tickets to PMQs during the year. Inspired by political sketch writers, you can read Oli’s account of his time in the Commons below, whilst Adam got some rather superior selfies...

It’s one thing to learn about political theory in a textbook, another to see it manifest itself inside the walls of Westminster Palace. In May, I was fortunate enough to witness just that: Prime Minister’s Questions in the flesh. Johnson was being quizzed (or rather dismantled) by Starmer on why the Treasury hadn’t introduced a windfall tax during the first energy price hike. Like preening animals in some sort of reality TV zoo, they argued for what seemed like hours, during which time Johnson managed to weave in some untranslatable and incoherent Latin sonnets. The atmosphere was the most incredible part of the experience – even though the public gallery is separated by a thick sheet of Perspex, the apparent mutual hatred that parties displayed was palpable. There was a moment when I thought I spotted a Boris impersonator on the benches, only to realise it was Michael Fabricant’s headpiece glistening in the light. After the PM had scurried away to presumably host another ‘work event’ at No.10, I made my way over the road to Portcullis House to watch the International Development Committee, which was calling Margaret Thatcher’s wannabe…sorry…Liz Truss, to give evidence. With considerable help from two of her senior civil servants, she was examined on a vast array of issues, from Ukraine’s wheat exports to nutrition plans for developmental aid programmes. This committee had a completely different feel than that of the Chamber – both because of the lack of theatrics and jeering and because there was sufficient time to answer the questions in depth. There was much more of the ‘nitty gritty’ which in turn meant that there was proportionately more straight talking. Truss couldn’t easily skirt round the questions, like Johnson could half an hour earlier.

There’s something unique about going to see democracy in person yet this unimpeded view does come at a cost: you get to see much more of the unattractive, petulant behaviour displayed by those on the benches. No camera restricts your field of vision; no TV director gets to tamper with what you see. You’d be forgiven for mistaking the Members for rowdy schoolchildren in the Chamber – something which adds to the atmosphere but also impedes proper debate. But, as the saying goes, “them’s the breaks”. Oli Dawson, Lower Sixth