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Ten young people from London have been offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work as apprentices in the House of Commons.
Jobs that members of the group will undertake include helping MPs on influential committees and working with Parliament’s communications team.
It is the first time such apprenticeships have been targeted at young people from backgrounds who may not otherwise have considered working in the Palace of Westminster.
The initiative was set up as part of the Evening Standard’s Ladder for London campaign, to secure apprenticeships for the capital’s youth, and is being run by the Commons Authorities and the charity City Gateway.
Clerk of the House of Commons Sir Robert Rogers said: “What I wanted to do was to give people an opportunity to work for Parliament and in Parliament who would never have thought this was a career open to them.
“What the Evening Standard is doing with City Gateway is just brilliant. We can show that the door is open.” He added: “Also, there are huge advantages to us in having a more diverse workforce.”
Sir Robert, who has been employed in the Commons for 41 years, said he hoped the apprentices would not only gain professional skills but that a number would build careers there.
Shebiqa Hakim, 19, from Forest Gate, said: “When I heard about it I just thought it sounded like a great opportunity, something that I never expected to come up. I want to gain life skills and lots of experience that I can relate to different types of work.”
Ryan Wilson, 17, from Bermondsey, said: “This is an organisation that is known and respected around the world so it’s amazing that I’ll get to earn qualifications here and meet lots of interesting people. I think there is a distance between young people and this place. It wouldn’t necessarily occur to a young person with aspirations to try to get a job here — it’s going to be a great experience.”
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A total of 900 apprenticeships have been created through Ladder for London since it began nine months ago.