My view inside the Commons

As someone who studied politics at university, used to work in public affairs and is now training to be a solicitor just around the corner from the Houses of Parliament, BBC2’s recently-screened Inside the Commons was always going to be imperative viewing.

The series highlighted the tension between the increasingly public and fast pace of modern politics and the latent, archaic procedures of Parliament. It showed that even those at the heart of law-making are dependent on the institutional knowledge held by the longest serving members and clerks and bound up in the volumes of Erskine May on the shelves. The cameras chronicled a few MPs’ efforts to drive issues and legislative changes through Parliament, yet still gave but a glimpse of the procedures and formalities involved.

While training at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP (BDB) I’ve had a few glimpses of the ways of Westminster myself. I spent my second seat in the firm’s government and infrastructure (G&I) department, which currently boasts five Roll A parliamentary agents and has a long history of advising and acting on all aspects of parliamentary procedure.

Its expertise includes promoting and opposing private and hybrid bills in Parliament; the preeminent example, at the moment, being the hybrid bill to authorise the first phase of High Speed 2 (HS2). During my seat I worked for a range of clients, including businesses, sporting clubs and large landowners, petitioning against the HS2 Bill. I attended client meetings and produced initial drafts of their petitions to capture the concerns about the effect of HS2 on their property and to propose solutions, including, in some cases, by way of amendments to the bill.  

I attended the presentation of one client’s petition in front of the Select Committee considering the bill and watched counsel make submissions as MPs listened, and on occasion jumped up at the sound of the division bell. Thanks to Inside the Commons I now know that the bell signalled an eight-minute window in which the MPs had to make it to their chosen voting lobby.

On another occasion I stood in the elaborate, dark corridors, in a final huddle with counsel and client, waiting to be ushered through the 'public' door to the Committee room (the separate 'members' door was a few paces down the hall) to hear perhaps the final Development Consent Order (DCO) go through the special parliamentary procedure. This matter involved a joint committee of three MPs and three peers convened to hear a petition regarding the potential compulsory acquisition of specific land in exercise the powers in the Able Marine Energy Park DCO. Our client was ultimately successful, as the Committee rejected the petition, which means the project will now hopefully proceed to construction. 

I was glad to have used and built on my previous experience as a public affairs consultant as a trainee at BDB. Working with the firm’s public affairs practice, I produced reports to clients on proceedings in the House of Commons and drafted advice on the likely timescales and outcomes of various policy initiatives and pieces of legislation. My research into the ways of Westminster was helped immensely thanks to the knowledge and experience dispensed by our Principal Parliamentary Clerk, whose valuable role in the firm mirrors that of the clerks inside the Commons. 

My six months in the G&I team provided me with valuable experience of the work of a top-tier infrastructure and planning practice, yet one set in the leafy and historic Westminster surrounds. It doesn’t hurt being round the corner from Parliament either if you enjoy playing spot the niche celebrity on your lunch break.

Clare Shaw is a final-seat trainee solicitor at London law firm BDB.