THE REALITY OF POLITICS ON THE FRONT LINE: HNC STUDENTS QUIZ KIM LEADBEATER MP
26.01.2024HNC has shared how our A Level Politics students have recently enjoyed an inspirational and enlightening talk and Q&A with Kim Leadbeater, MP.
Kim Leadbeater has been the Labour MP for Batley and Spen since winning a closely-fought by-election on 1 July 2021. She was born and brought up in the constituency and before her election to Parliament Kim was Ambassador for the Jo Cox Foundation, which was set up to continue the legacy of her sister, the former MP, who was murdered in the constituency in June 2016. At Westminster Kim has focused on issues around health and wellbeing, online safety and standards in public life. She chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Tidy Britain, Loneliness and Connected Communities, Sport, Running, and Political Literacy.
During her fast paced and interactive session Kim spoke about her journey to becoming an MP and the reality of the job. She also spoke about the relationship between local politics and representing the views of constituents in national Parliament, including as part of her work chairing a range of groups. Students were invited to ask their questions, and were not shy about grilling Kim about life as a MP, including how she might manage any conflict between the views of constituents with her work in various parliamentary groups.
Nina Attridge, Teacher of Politics comments: “This was a brilliant opportunity for our students to hear more from a real life MP about the realities of the role. While our students do of course have differing personal political views, the session allowed them to gain a genuine insight into what it is really like to work as a MP. It was really inspiring to hear about her journey to becoming an MP and learn more about what drives Kim’s passion to make a difference to her constituents. The Q&A was brilliant, and I am really proud of our students who asked some really insightful questions – some of which were challenging! As a College we would like to thank Kim for taking the time to deliver a fantastic session.”
Sharing her thoughts on the event, Kim Leadbeater MP commented: “It’s always a pleasure to speak to young people about Politics. Thank you to the students at HNC for being so engaged and for the excellent questions about current affairs, civility in public life, how to get involved in politics and a lot more. Good to see some future voters from Batley and Spen in the room, and I could definitely see some potential MPs in this brilliant group of students!”
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