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On the 20th of November, a group of College politics students served as the waiters at the official fundraising dinner for Herefordshire’s Labour party parliamentary candidate Phillipa Roberts. The event launching her candidature for Herefordshire, had very distinguished guests of honour: John Davies, a long serving local Union member, Keith Norman (the General Secretary of ASLEF) and non other than Margaret Beckett MP, previously Secretary of State and Leader of the House of Commons.

 

At the request of ex MP and local Labour party organiser Bob Clay, students Caitlin Moriarty-Osbourne, Lily Hartman-Gerald, Dean Davies, Izaak James and Jord Creed came in to serve the guests at Herefordshire Railway Club. With no more than 15 minutes of instruction, they served up locally sourced produce prepared by the owners of Hereford’s All Saints café to the 150 guests.

 

They also had the opportunity to listen to very different speeches from the guests of honour, giving a real taste of very different levels of politics, trade unions, local constituencies and even high-level government.

 

Phillipa Roberts began by giving a speech outlining her motivation for standing in Herefordshire. She stressed that as she had been raised in the County she had a strongly held desire to serve its people. With a practical background and career in waste disposal, she is well qualified to implement policies of sustainability so crucial to today’s political climate. Indeed her slogan is “Social Justice and Sustainability”. Her speech also covered an historical angle - how the Labour party once was second strongest showing in the county and that the party could in future years experience a resurgence of popularity.

 

After the first course was served, John Davies a long-serving member of the Railworkers Union, gave an account of the history of the Union and its work in Herefordshire, regaling the audience with a story stretching from the 1950s to date. It was a look at politics from a grass roots level intertwined with Margaret Beckett who gave an enthralling talk covering the different themes of her experiences during her time in cabinet and the basic values which she and the Labour party hold dear.

 

It was an eye-opening experience for our students to see the world of politics at a practical level outside the classroom. With the forthcoming election of 2010 looming, several students will follow their political beliefs by gaining internships and placements in the various parties, gaining first-hand experience in canvassing, organisation and publicity.