Caroline Spelman, previous Conservative Party Chairman visited The Sixth Form College, Solihull on 6th February to discuss her time as Secretary of State for the Department of Environment and on being, “the 6th woman in the history of British Politics to sit in the Cabinet”.
After delivering a brief overview on her time in Parliament; what it was like being a new Conservative MP in 1997 and working in a “cohesive coalition”, the MP for Meriden began to take questions from the floor. One such question was from Year 12 Politics student Ewan, who asked: “What made the Conservatives stand out as a party to you, over Labour or the Liberal Democrats, for example?” In response, Spelman stated that when deciding on a party for you, “You’ve got to think, where do I broadly align,” before continuing onto describe how poignant moments from her youth, such as the ‘three day week’ distanced her from the Labour Party particularly.
The majority of the questions asked focused specifically on legislation Spelman had worked on during her time in Parliament, such as the ‘Modern Slavery Act’. Her responses to these questions engaged the students into the importance of creating and amending legislature, as well as an insight into the lifestyle of a member of Cabinet.
