If you want to get ahead in politics, Ellie Levenson recommends some journalistic or medical training
There are people who work in politics who have studied political science at university, spent their summer holidays completing internships in the House of Commons or a stagiaire in Brussels and then gone straight into jobs in think-tanks or as political researchers, barely pausing for breath before putting themselves forward for selection as potential MPs for their party of choice.
This may create people who have a microscopic knowledge of politics and can tell their Bevan from their Bevin and their Asbo from their Aspo, but if all MPs were to be so driven, the state of British political debate would be pretty poor. Not everyone studying politics will go on to work in political careers. But studying the subject can be a great help in other careers, particularly journalism, as courses such as the BA in journalism and politics at Salford University recognise. There, as well as studying topics such as US foreign policy since 1945 and the politics of Northern Ireland, you also get full journalism training accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) - and you learn your trade in a fully equipped newsroom.
Graduates of this course should be able to report as journalists, armed with a full knowledge of how politics works and how current events fit into recent political history. This won't just help people wishing to pursue careers as reporters, but those who end up as sketch writers and interviewers, investigative journalists and even illustrators. Similarly, in local journalism a knowledge of politics is also essential to understand the structures of local government and how it fits into the national and international picture.
Although there is no "politics" in the name of this course, the BA in Journalism and Contemporary History - run jointly by City University and Queen Mary, University of London - covers many areas that often feature in a traditional politics course such as cold war America, economic history and British cabinet government.
Historian and former journalist Peter Hennessy, now Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary, was instrumental in setting up the course. He believes that a knowledge of history and politics is particularly useful for journalists to ensure that they are not taken in by the rhetoric of politicians.
"If politics is taught properly in universities and with historical perspective added to it, then it gives you a decoding book to bring to the reporting of political events," he says.
In the same way, a knowledge of journalism should help aspiring politicians, teaching them at the very least to avoid many of the mistakes politicians can make, from coming across as bumbling fools on evening news programmes to being caught in a web of their own lies by persistent journalists. Of course, not all politicians with a knowledge of the media are prevented from coming across as rather foolish - you only have to look at Robert Kilroy-Silk to see that.
Nor does it prevent you from becoming a figure of hate. His history as political editor of the Daily Mirror, as well as numerous other posts in journalism, may have helped Alastair Campbell control the content of newspapers, but it did not stop his controlling ways and bullying tactics from being widely reported by his former colleagues.
There are of course plenty of other careers which can help you once you enter politics. Howard Stoate, MP for Dartford, is also a practising GP. He believes that people who go into politics ought to come from as diverse a background as possible, and that they should have at least a few years of doing something else before they go into parliament, in order for the House to have people with a range of perspectives and ways of thinking.
He says: "My medical background has been very helpful in politics because I learnt very quickly in medicine to evaluate a situation through verbal and non-verbal clues. In medicine you learn to think fast and to have a hugely wide range - one minute psychology, the next neurology - and to relate to people and measure them up."
For Stoate, his surgeries as an MP aren't that dissimilar to his surgeries as a GP: "They are virtually identical. People come to you in distress of one form or another, either because they have a health problem or a social problem, so it is very similar."
Stoate's medical background may help him as a politician but, unlike journalism and politics, I suspect it doesn't cut both ways. However good his handling of the economy, I would not, for example, be overly pleased to wake up from an operation and find Gordon Brown looming over me in medical scrubs.
Why study two subjects? Students of journalism and politics at Salford explain
Suana Meckeler In Germany, you just couldn't do a course such as this - both academic and practical. We have the opportunity to work on the student newspaper, and we're setting up a radio station in conjunction with XFM, which launches on 31 October. The lecturers are very helpful in getting contacts, and in the final year we can apply for a parliamentary placement. I don't know whether I want to work in politics or journalism, but I feel qualified for both.
Sophie Clough I got to spend a semester in Prague in my second year, as Salford University has an exchange programme with the Anglo-American College there. It was a fantastic experience. I worked on the Prague Post two days a week, as well as continuing my studies. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I would like to work in journalism or maybe PR. Salford has given me a huge amount of experience that should help.
Adele Peenaert I was initially interested in this course because the politics department at Salford was highly rated, and also because the city is so close to Manchester. Once a term, we have a newsweek when we spend all our time in the newsroom dealing with events as they happen. I don't think any other university in the country has the same kind of facilities. I'm hoping to do an MA in international relations when I finish. After that I'd like to work for Amnesty International or become a diplomat.
Emily Harrison I didn't want to do a course that was purely vocational. Here I get to do something that is both interesting and relevant. We learn about the history and philosophy behind politics, which helps us understand current affairs. And we are also heavily involved in journalism, both in college and on a national scale.
Post this article to
We want to encourage people to comment on our content and to exchange views with other readers and hope this will be done on a courteous basis. However, if you encounter posts which are offensive please let us know by emailing comments@newstatesman.co.uk and we will take swift action where necessary.
