Fionnuala Quinn, Senior Political Consultant for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Beatrice Travis, Intermediate Political Consultant for Children, Education and Skills
Following Labour’s triumph in the 2024 general election, there has been an invigorated focus on the promises regarding social mobility outlined in their manifesto. Central to their agenda is a resolute commitment to dismantling barriers and fostering equal opportunities for all. Labour’s manifesto states that “breaking the pernicious link between background and success will be a defining mission for Labour,” highlighting their dedication to advancing social mobility and overcoming socio-economic obstacles.
Labour’s commitment to “opportunity for all” includes the pledge that no matter one’s background, everyone will be able to thrive through enacting the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. Further, the Government’s commitments to social mobility appear to be embedded in creating space in schools, local communities, and the workforce for individuals to have equal opportunity to success.
On the work front, the Government has pledged to provide national jobs and careers services to help people to get into work, including supporting those with disabilities and health conditions to be provided with equal opportunities. Moreover, the Government has opened several initiatives in the hopes of increasing social mobility and closing the disadvantage gap – a term used for the gap in grades between disadvantaged students and their peers, and a leading measure of social mobility in England and an indicator of the Government’s progress in reducing inequalities in education – nationwide. Notably, the Government has kicked off a Child Poverty Taskforce with the goal of improving children’s lives and life chances as a result of child poverty, aiming to prevent low socio-economic status from inhibiting young people’s chances to excel in life.
The Government has additionally promised to continue pushing a wide range of alternative options available for students, including degree apprenticeships or higher technical qualifications that offer young people the chance to gain the skills they need to build successful careers, regardless of socio-economic status, which may place them at an advantage in the academic system and workforce.
Furthermore, in the Kings Speech, the new Government has introduced the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, Skills England Bill, and the Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill which will each aid in improving social mobility respectively, particularly through free breakfast clubs in all schools, increasing accessibility to employable skills for all, and equal pay for all regardless of race, ethnicity, or background.
Ultimately, a focus on improving social mobility is a vital commitment from Labour to ensure economic and social stability in the country in the future. Stakeholders, families, teachers, and employees alike will be watching with a keen eye going forward to see that the Government carries out its promises of equality and new opportunities and that visible strides will be made to close the gaps in society that prevent Britain from being truly great.
Dods & Social Mobility Foundation’s joint internship programme
Here at Dods, we are supporting our clients, the Social Mobility Foundation, to deliver a week-long internship placement for talented young students at our London office. Through our partnership with SMF, Dods colleagues had the pleasure of working alongside Helai, Jubril, Karima, Kerena and Lamisa.
In this internship, the interns enjoyed a jam-packed schedule. Some highlights for this week included a guided tour of Parliament, which placed the students in the heart of the UK’s democracy. The interns also had the following training sessions across Dods’ teams:
- Dr Joshua Wells, Principal Political Consultant for the environment, food and rural affairs, held a one-hour lecture with the interns. He covered different ways of engaging with Parliament and looked at the benefits and limitations of hosting an event in Parliament. Joshua also covered the role of Select Committees and government consultations.
- The interns contributed to Dods People’s post-UK general and local election updates by locating the date of births for newly elected MPs, and by resourcing contact emails that were missing for newly appointed council leaders and chief executives. They also assisted Dods’ UK Civil Service Data Editor Freya by creating organisation charts on Excel for UK government departments.
- Jack Williamson, Senior Political Consultant for transport and infrastructure, held a data visualisation session with the interns, with particular focus on GIS mapping tools.
- Fionnuala Quinn, Senior Political Consultant for housing, communities and local government, hosted an Excel training session with the interns, providing them with an Excel guide and a practice data set to take home with them.
The interns rounded off their week by presenting to Dean Sabri, Head of UK Political Intelligence, and Joshua Wells. Dean noted that all of the interns presented well, and the content of each presentation was thorough and interesting. The interns covered a variety of topics in their presentations, from reviews of early years’ childcare reviews to the role of immigration in the UK’s skills shortages. Through participation in various brainstorming sessions, the interns leant on the consultants to provide them with additional insight and guidance while they researched for their presentations.
Interns’ experience at Dods
The interns helpfully provided feedback to Dods following their week-long placements:
Kerena Arthur said: “For me, the highlight of the internship was the seminar with Dr Josh, where he took us through the different methods for stakeholder engagement, as well as answering the questions we had about political consultancy and life at Dods. This helped me understand the line of business more deeply, and assisted my understanding of my task.
I wanted to intern at Dods as I wanted to explore political careers beyond the civil service, and Dods presented a way to do this that I wasn’t previously familiar with. I am about to begin a masters in Social Policy and Social Research, and the work that Dods do opened my eyes to a new way that I could put this knowledge to use post-graduation.”
Jubril Omidiya said: “I would have to say one of the major highlights of the internship has been working on the engagement strategy as it has allowed me to develop my project management skills as well as delve into a topic I did not know much about prior. It was amazing speaking with Alyson about the strategy and how I should go about structuring my presentation. Additionally, the round robin would have to be another highlight, allowing me to gain an insight into what the consultants at Dods actually do and why they enjoy doing it.
I wanted to intern at Dods because I was intrigued about what exactly it was political consultants do, I also wanted to know how impactful Dods was within UK politics and was able to find out the relationship between Dods and Parliament as well as many other organisations and companies. It was an amazing experience and one that will be unforgettable too.”
Lamisa Ahad said: “The highlight of the internship has been meeting the Dods team and learning about their job role. This has exposed me to aspects of politics that I would have not paid attention to such as relaying political events to stakeholders and having a track of the details of politicians and their commitments.
I wanted to intern at Dods because I was intrigued about how consultancy matched up with politics and I wanted to know more about the job opportunities available in the politics field outside traditional routes such as the Civil Service.”
Karima Mohamed said: “The highlight of the internship has definitely been having small group discussions with a variety of consultants who work in different sectors. It showed me that you do not have to come to the job as an expert, but instead having interest in politics is a great starting point to then later learn new transferable skills. Additionally, I have enjoyed working on an engagement strategy for the New Labour government, as not only is it extremely relevant, it also allowed me to consider the many components that go into policy making. This includes stakeholder mapping and methods of engagement with the government.
Applying for the internship at Dods mainly stemmed from curiosity of the role as political consultancy is quite a unique job, so I was intrigued to see what the day to day entailed. I also saw the variety of clients that Dods worked with, and wanted to know more about how and why they required political monitoring. Another reason would be the reputability of the company, given their long history engaging with parliament.”
Takeaways and conclusions
The week-long internship at Dods provided the participating students with practical experience and insights into the field of political consultancy. Through a variety of activities, including training sessions, seminars, and discussions with professionals, the interns were able to develop new skills and explore potential career paths within politics. Their feedback highlights the educational value of such initiatives, offering them a broader understanding of political consultancy and its applications.
Dods is keen to continue to engage in these types of partnerships. If your organisation would like to partner with Dods to deliver a similar scheme, please get in touch via customer.service@dodsgroup.com to discuss this further.