On Thursday 25 May a group of alumni with a shared professional interest in politics gathered at the Civil Service Club to see a team of Labour affiliated alumni take on a team of Conservative affiliated alumni in an extended University Challenge style quiz. We were treated to an evening of intense competition, with teams taking it in turns to fall behind and claw themselves back into contention before going to the wire with the winner decided on a tie-breaker question.
At the end, with the victors still celebrating and the vanquished team licking their wounds, we talked seriously about the legacy of Lord Philip Norton, who has successfully shepherded countless alumni into starting careers at Westminster. The internship scheme that he initiated and has overseen for thirty years has been crucial to launching careers for many Hull alumni. Ensuring that these unique opportunity remains accessible to all students, regardless of their financial background, is key at a time when we need more people from less economically advantaged backgrounds in politics, not less. That is why we were delighted to launch our Hull to Westminster fundraising campaign at the event with the aim of supporting future Hull students into careers in politics.
In this article you can read about how the event unfolded and who eventually emerged victorious, and below that we share a bit more information on Hull to Westminster, how you can support this and why you should consider doing so. You can also watch the video of the event and see some of the photographs.
Guests arrived at the Civil Service Club in London to find an enthusiastic team of staff from the University of Hull waiting to great them. Along with staff from the alumni office, the Vice-Chancellor, Dave Petley and incoming Chancellor the Right Honourable Dr Alan Johnson, former Labour MP, and Professor Stephen Hardy, the Dean of the Faculty of Business Law and Politics were waiting to welcome alumni before the event commenced. For Alan Johnson it was to be an intense evening – not only was this the first event he was attending in an official capacity (he doesn’t officially start as Chancellor until 1st July) he was also captaining the Labour team for the Hull University Challenge.
Proceeds kicked off with a welcome from our host for the evening, Lord Norton of Louth, who talked about his work of almost 40 years as Professor of Government at the University of Hull, and in particular the Parliamentary Placement Scheme which he launched in 1988 and which provide a unique opportunity for University of Hull students to kickstart their careers in politics with internship opportunities that are like no other. The aim of the evening was to launch our Hull to Westminster fundraising which will secure the future of the Parliamentary Placement Scheme and ensure it remains accessible for all students.
Professor Stephen Hardy, who played the role of our Jeremy Paxman for the evening, then took over for an extended University Challenge style quiz. The rules, he explained, would be the same as in the popular television show but, he ruefully pointed out, as we’ve discovered over the years, the rules often don’t apply to those working in politics.
For just under two hours (with a short break in between) the two teams battled it out, facing a series of questions that tested their knowledge of popular political culture and history. Which former Prime Minister had the nickname ‘a sheep in sheep’s clothing’ who was known as ‘Attila the Hen’? Whose ashes were scattered at the base of the Peter Pan statue outside of the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children? Who had a pet spider called Cronos? Who received fines for the Covid Partygate scandal? The latter question might have ended with the Tory team revealing a little too much information.
There were also questions thrown in about the history of the University of Hull, which the teams struggled a little more with, which was surprising as they were (the new Chancellor aside) alumni who surely read the alumni bulletin, where most of the answers would have been found over the years. Indeed, many members of the teams were also beneficiaries of the Parliamentary Placement Scheme – with some current parliamentary interns also representing their respective parties. They had the chance to show their knowledge, erudition and abilities, and they did not disappoint.
The Conservative team consisted of captain Eden Barnes (Law, 2016, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister), Salman Anwar (British Politics and Legislative Studies, 2017, Senior Parliamentary Assistant to Saqib Bhatti MBE MP), Luke Court (British Politics and Legislative Studies, 2022) Shaun Bailey MPs Parliamentary Assistant), and Louise Gibbons, a student currently working for the Office of Tom Tugendhat MP on the Parliamentary Placement Scheme.
The Labour team was captained by incoming Chancellor Rt Hon Dr Alan Johnson, the former Labour MP for Hull West and Hessle. He was joined by former Labour Political Advisor and Media Spokesman and current CO-Founder and Executive Chair of Lexington Communications Mike Craven (BA HIstory 1980). The final two members were British Politics and Legislative Studies students on the Parliamentary Placement Scheme, Elise Kitching, working for Baroness Dianne Hayter of Kentish Town, and Jack Stephenson, Parliamentary Researcher for Sharon Hodgson MP.
With the game on a tie at 465 points each, the grueling session came to an end with a tiebreak question which the Conservatives eventually won. Teams were awarded participatory prizes and the winners received a rapturous standing ovation from the Tories in the crowd. Finally alumnus Ken Batty took to the stage to give an impassioned request that those present consider donating to our Hull to Westminster fundraising campaign to ensure that future generations of Hull’ politics students have the opportunity to make a difference at the heart of British Politics.
The event ended with networkirefreshments and, as ever, it was great to see so many Hull alumni in the same room. You can see the video above, a selection of photographs below and, if you wish to see the whole collection of photographs from the evening, you can visit HullAlumniConnects.me
Below, you can find out more about Hull to Westminster and how you can help.
Hull to Westminster
Your support can change the face of British politics and help a student take advantage of a life-changing opportunity.
University of Hull students studying Politics and Legislative Studies are offered a unique twelve-month placement in Westminster. This enables them to work alongside an MP or a peer and apply the knowledge gained through their university work to the real world. This pipeline has opened many doors to students considering a career in politics. Hull graduates have become a familiar part of the Westminster landscape and have become affectionately known as the “Hull Mafia”.
Despite the success of the programme, there is growing concern that the costs of the Westminster placement are proving to be prohibitive for some students. This has affected both participation in the scheme and enrolment and retention to the programme. More significantly it may have restricted opportunities for students from poorer backgrounds to enjoy the benefits of the placement year and increase their representation within Westminster.
In order to ensure that the internship programme remains accessible to all students, regardless of their financial situation, we want to be able to offer bursaries of £3,000 to ten students each year, helping them with day-to-day living costs associated with a Westminster placement. Your support will be essential to help make this happen.
University of Hull Alumni Association 