Interns farewell Spring 2010
"An Incredible Experience"
The Farewell Reception of the Spring cohort of Parliamentary interns took place at the height of the UK general election campaign. But the interns and quite a few MSPs took time out from the campaign to gather in the Raeburn Room of Old College for a convivial end-of-term 'do'. Professor Charlie Jeffery, who teaches British Politics on the programme, pointed out the resonances to the course the campaign was highlighting, as well as the prospects of the campaign and the election result for changing British politics. Professor David McCrone, who teaches Scottish Politics, mentioned potential consequences of the UK result for the Scottish elections, which will be held in May 2011. He also praised the MSPs for their cooperation with the programme and said that the interns were the best ambassadors for the programme.
On behalf of the MSPs, David Stewart (Labour) and Stuart McMillan (SNP) emphasised the two-way process of the internship – MSPs, they maintained, would learn as much from the interns as interns learned from the MSPs. Rhoda Grant (Labour) and Frank McAveety (Labour) stressed the great contribution their interns in particular, but also interns in general, made to their office, and to the Parliament as a whole. Ted Brocklebank (Conservatives) echoed this when he praised his intern as "a great asset to the office" and called the internship "a fabulous experience".
Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrats), one of the stalwarts of the programme among the MSPs, said the programme made a "really useful contribution" and called the "cross-party camaraderie" among the interns a most refreshing feature for the Parliament. "If I learn something new from the intern’s final report," Dave Whitton (Labour) said, "then it’s a good report."
On behalf of the interns, Lauren Spring called her internship "an incredible experience", the "great challenge of having substantive projects to work on" cushioned by the "great atmosphere in the office". She definitely would recommend the programme to anyone wanting a hands-on experience of Scottish politics.
Interns/MSPs (Spring 2010)
| Intern | MSP |
|---|---|
| Josh Koch | Bill Kidd (SNP) |
| Chiyel Hayles | Jackie Baillie (Labour) |
| Alicia Ambers | Michael Matheson (SNP) |
| Brian Mulhall | Frank McAveety (Labour) |
| Kaitlyn Lord | Alasdair Allan (SNP) |
| Meredith Ledbetter | David Whitton (Labour) |
| Lindsey Nielsen | Helen Eadie (Labour) |
| Lauren Swing | Ted Brocklebank (Conservatives) |
| Norman Abbott | Jamie Hepburn (SNP) |
| Ingrid Johnson | Margaret Curran (Labour) |
| Shaina McAndrews | Rob Gibson (SNP) |
| Sara Lupolt | Margo MacDonald (Independent) |
| Alec Imel | Michael McMahon (Labour) |
| Heather MacLeod | Aileen Campbell (SNP) |
| Rachel Huang | Cathy Jamieson (Labour) |
| Bonnie Torre | Kenneth Gibson (SNP) |
| Jackie Codair | Wendy Alexander (Labour) |
| Chris Passarelli | David Stewart (Labour) |
| Keilani Groszyk | Stuart McMillan (SNP) |
| Alexander Sweet (Alex) | John Lamont (Conservatives) |
| Amanda Wernicke | Rhona Brankin (Labour) |
| Corinne Stuart | Marlyn Glen (Labour) |
| Catherine Casazza | Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrats) |
This page was published on 5 July 2010