Dr. Sarah Wollaston MP

Dr. Sarah Wollaston MP

Had you visited Parliament before becoming an MP?

Just the once. Until 4 years ago, I hadn’t even attended a political meeting.  At first, it was all very slick – you are given your passes, your new laptop etc and then it was like falling off a cliff. We had a whole week of lectures about your responsibilities as a data controller, an employer, things you can and can’t say and a huge list of things you need to be aware of in case you get something wrong. You must sort out your support staff by yourself and at first you don’t get any office space where you can get all this organised. As you turn on your new computer, you’re deluged with hundreds of emails and in the post room there’s a great sack of mail waiting for you. Sorting out an office is therefore paramount and, after a month, I’m one of the lucky ones. I have a perfectly formed, albeit small office with a window (I can just make out the River Thames if I lean out the window). But by now, new MPs are prepared to accept anything – some of my colleagues have no windows in their offices.

You have this odd system, a bit like break time at school, when the Division Bell sounds signalling a vote, and then there’s a great tidal wave of MPs emerging from everywhere racing to the voting lobby. My office is a good 8 minute run to the Chamber and the doors are slammed shut after 8 minutes!

The Palace of Westminster is a beautiful place, a real palace. Aside from its beauty, you are very aware of its history but, as a newcomer, you do find the place rather frustrating. You can’t help but to think that things could be done more efficiently, that MPs’ time could be better spent than running to vote and then filing through the lobby one by one. You are not given many instructions about procedures etc and nor are you assigned someone to help show you the ropes. Everyone is too busy and of course there are over 200 new MPs. So it’s up to you to get the hang of the place although there were times in the first two weeks when I wasn’t sure I’d get to grips with it at all. But now, there’s light at the end of the tunnel and I am beginning to enjoy myself.

It must help that you’ve broken your duck with your maiden speech?

Indeed. It’s a big moment for a new MP. You apply to the Speaker’s Office and hope you’ll catch the Speaker’s eye. I spoke in the health section of the Queen’s speech and so my medical background helped me get listed. As it was the Queen’s Speech and we had just had the first PMQ’s of the new Parliament, there were still quite a few members in the Chamber. The big decision for an MP is do you read from a pre-prepared script or speak as if off the cuff. The former can be quite boring but there is a danger that you don’t quite say all you want to say if you choose the latter. I opted for the latter but you have just 8 minutes allotted time (it used to be longer). When I rehearsed it, it took 9½ mins so I had to leave things out. It’s a pity you can’t go up to the Hansard Office and say, I know this is what I said but actually I meant to say…

I was keen to cover a wide range of topics including community hospitals, Transition Town Totnes, the fishing industry but, in particular, talk about bovine TB and the impact of binge drinking and low priced alcohol. My views on the latter two are evidence based but I regret I didn’t have the time to expand on this.

What’s the atmosphere like at Westminster?

As I said, everyone is busy but obviously you are starting to form new friendships and alliances. The House is noticeably and overwhelmingly male dominated.

I’m not a tribal politician as I don’t have that background. But there is a palpable sense that the new coalition is having an influence on how MPs can work together to reach compromise. I’d like to think that politics will continue to be more collaborative and that there will be more debate in the party about what the direction of travel should be rather than follow rigid party lines. I’d like to see more genuine debate in the Chamber and more free votes. I am happy to be influenced on subjects about which I am not an expert. There are also an awful lot of special advisers around government but I hope Ministers will listen more to their MPs than to their advisers especially as I am surprised that many don’t seem to have an in-depth background in the subjects on which they advise.

The Commons is an odd mix – people are very friendly in corridors, around the tearooms and lobby etc but in the Chamber the gloves are off! They constantly interrupt each other, which often the mikes don’t pick up. They’ll shout a speaker down and will hurl personal insults, often about what you are wearing especially if you are a woman. Absolutely no mercy is shown. Fellow MPs can be incredibly rude inside the Chamber but perfectly nice outside. Part of it is quite funny and it makes for a lively atmosphere but it can also be irritating and, again, I can’t help but think we could do things better.

Have you got into a rhythm of life at Westminster and in the constituency?

After 5 weeks or so, this is the first week where I feel I have – certainly at Westminster where I now have an office and someone to help me. My biggest fear is losing paperwork and correspondence. I aim to run a surgery each fortnight. As the constituency is quite large, that means rotating the venues across the area but this can be very inconvenient if your matter is urgent and you find yourself at the opposite end of the constituency. So I will probably hold half the surgeries in Totnes as it’s quite central as far as public transport it concerned.

I work in London from Monday to Thursday and then in the constituency on Friday and Saturday. The hours are very long but Sunday is sacrosanct and is reserved for the family especially as I have children at home. As a woman, no one notices what you do until it isn’t done, so after 4 weeks I find the dishwasher broken, the garden overgrown and the washing piling up! So there’s a lot of adjustment at home and it can be very hard on an MP’s family. I don’t know how MPs manage with very young families.

Have you worked out how to spend your time?

The majority of an MP’s work is not actually in the Chamber or indeed in the House of Commons. We are constantly meeting Ministers, civil servants, representatives from local and national bodies, special interest groups etc. There are hundreds of meeting rooms around Parliament. We have to learn to find our way around the Executive and other bodies of influence to get things done and ensure we correctly represent our constituents.

Certain issues regularly come up in surgeries such as the state benefits system e.g. the new Work Capacity Assessments. There are huge issues around subjects such as these so I take pains to understand the reasoning behind these rules, what was the decision-making pathway etc. So it’s important for me to actually sit in on an assessment and also talk to the civil servants that administer the system.

There’s no job description other than you’ll probably be booted out if you don’t do it properly. You’re trying to use your previous expertise and experience without becoming a single-issue politician. It would be easy to just focus on constituency casework but I feel I was elected to make sense of that casework but also to represent the wider issues that exercise my constituents. Only recently, I sat in on a presentation by the US General Petraeus about US policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, about which I know local voters have strong opinions. It can, therefore, be a fascinating and rewarding job.

First published July 2010 By the Dart

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