NORTH WALSHAM STUDENTS GIVEN LESSON IN POLITICS BY LOCAL MP

Don’t worry if you don’t know what you want to do yet – sometime you don’t work that out until later on in life: that was the message from North Norfolk MP to Year 8 students at North Walsham High School, during an inspirational presentation and question-and-answer session.

Mr Lamb, former Minister of State at the Department of Health, revealed to students that he didn’t do that well at school, and only really started to know what he wanted to do when he was at university.

“Sometimes you only really work out what you want to do a bit later on,” he told students.  “I didn’t actually do very well at school, and I didn’t get great GCSEs or A-levels.  It was only when I was at university that I started to shape the things that I wanted to do.”

Mr Lamb also revealed that his job as MP can be both frustrating and scary – especially when speaking in the House of Commons.  “I got very scared when I had to speak in Parliament for the first time, and actually for quite a long time afterwards,” he said.  “It’s quite scary in front of a whole room of people – but my job is rarely boring.

“It can be frustrating.  It would be great if you could solve every problem, if there was a great load of money there to solve every problem.  But there isn’t.  That means you have to make choices, it means you have to decide what are the most important things you should spend the money on – and critically also, how best to use the money to achieve the best results.

“The thing that is most invigorating, most positive, is that if you can make changes that can potentially make a difference to people’s lives – then you will have achieved something worthwhile.

“Along the way there are endless frustrations where you try and achieve things and get knocked back, and it’s quite easy at those time to give up – but you keep going, because ultimately sometimes you get a breakthrough.”

Thanking Mr Lamb for taking the time to address the students, NWHS assistant head Paul Clark said, “It’s really important that our young people engage with politics, the wider world, and the issues which influence all of us. 

“When our students leave us, they are only a year or so off being able to vote.  We try to ensure they have a rounded view of why politics is important, and having the opportunity to quiz our local MP, especially as he has so much experience at the heart of government, is a real privilege.”