Shadow Attorney General Catherine McKinnell and fellow North East MP, Julie Elliott, visited Northumbria University, Newcastle, recently to take part in a Q&A with law students.

During the visit, the pair – who are both Northumbria graduates – met with students who were keen to find out more about working in Westminster.

Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell, who studied for a postgraduate degree in Law at Northumbria and was recently appointed Shadow Attorney General, said:

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Northumbria – university study helped me develop a number of skills that I have used throughout my working life, particularly the ability to take on a large amount of complex information and communicate that to different audiences.

“The Law School has changed so much since my time here – the facilities are amazing and it has a really professional feel about it. I particularly love the courtroom.”

Julie Elliott, MP for Sunderland Central, added: “It was a real pleasure to speak with students from a range of courses about the work we do as an MP and how they can get involved in politics.”

The students were given an in-depth insight into the role of Parliament and its committees and had the chance to ask questions about the day to life of MPs.

Elega Simpson, a second year Law student, said:

“I found the Q&A very informative and relevant to my course – we are currently studying the constitution and will be moving on to judicial review later in the year, and politics plays a key role in these areas.”

The discussion covered a range of topics, from campaigning and debating to social media. One of the topics which Catherine and Julie both felt strongly about was gender inequality in Parliament.

When asked about the lack of women in the House of Commons, both MPs said that progress has been made – but that there is still a long way to go.

“Both I and my fellow female MPs work hard to encourage other women to get into politics – but it remains an uphill struggle,” said Catherine,

“I would advise women looking to get into politics to work with like-minded people as much as possible and build their own network of support – also, don’t take no for an answer. Many of the improvements that have been made in Parliament to make it more family-friendly have come about after MPs challenged the status quo.”

Victoria Murray, Teaching Fellow at Northumbria Law School and event organiser, said:

“We were delighted to host Catherine McKinnell MP and Julie Elliott MP in celebration of Parliament Week. They each provided a wonderful insight into the work of Parliament and role of MPs. Their presentation embodies our approach of bringing the law to life and it also reinforced students’ understanding of key aspects of the law curriculum. We are very grateful for the time Julie and Catherine devoted to supporting this event.”

Tags: