Local MP David Mundell welcomed two sixth form Modern Studies students from Wallace Hall academy in Thornhill recently. Elspeth Nicholson and Stephanie Wells spent a week with David Mundell MP in his London office.
Starting the week off with a tour of the Palace of Westminster (including seeing the famous cupboard where Emily Wilding Davison hid during the night of the 1911 census), nothing could top the tour of No 10 Downing Street.
The students were taken through the state reception rooms, up the famous “Love Actually” staircase alongside pictures of previous Prime Ministers before finishing with the opportunity to sit in Winston Churchill’s chair. The trip was rounded off with a photo outside the famous black door. The only thing missing was a sighting of Larry the Cat, Chief Mouser of Downing Street.
The students also had front row seats for both Scottish Oral Questions and a lively Prime Minister’s Questions where the Smith Commission was high on the agenda.
This all happened as well as attending a lunch hosted by the Moderator of the Church of Scotland at the Scotland Office where the Elspeth and Stephanie rubbed shoulders with Cabinet Ministers, and MPs including Eleanor Laing MP, Deputy Speaker.
David commented “I hope that Elspeth and Stephanie gained a real insight into the work of an MP, both in Parliament and in my constituency. They were enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and I’m so pleased they were able to see the workings of the Westminster machine first hand.
They are a credit both to Wallace Hall and to our area.”