Interview with Bridget Phillipson, MP Houghton & Sunderland South (click here for weblink)
 

BESIDES religion, politics has probably been the mechanism for more murder, mayhem and civil unrest than any other following known to man.

 

But even with such self-confessed cynicism, I still jumped at the chance to interview Bridget Phillipson, the new MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, when she offered.

 

And besides, she's part of a new generation no longer bound by the stern image of stuffy men, party spin and outlandish expenses sheets for duck ponds or tennis courts.

 

Born and raised by a single mum in a council house, she's the beneficiary of a first-class education (Hertford College, Oxford), who returned to her roots to run a charity refuge for women and children affected by domestic violence.

 

Her influences are inspired by strong female characters, particularly her mother and Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader.

 

And at 26 her career is by no means a fad; a party member since 15, she is one of the youngest parliamentarians and the first female MP in Sunderland for 80 years.

 

So what does it feel like to be young and female in Parliament, considering many of her constituents must be two or three generations older than her?

 

“What’s most important is that I’m a local candidate and being aware of local problems,” she says. “I hope I can reach out to people across the age range.”

 

And it was whilst on the campaign trail that she spearheaded her youthful vigour to convince voters that fresh blood needed to be pumped back into the town’s anaemic body.

 

“New MPs are bucking the trend, there are more young candidates and people from ethnic minorities.”

 

She tells me Labour is also working towards 50 percent of its members being female through their All Women Shortlists (AWS) – “A brave but unpopular solution to the lack of female representation in Parliament,” she says; and she should know – she was elected from an AWS.

 

It’s clear she sees AWS’s as pivotal to ensuring MPs are representative of the wider community.

 

It’s not that Bridget is a feminist; I sense she doesn’t see herself as young or female, rather someone who is ready to do the best for the people she represents - “I don’t think it’s particularly important as long as I can do the job.”

 

Bridget fighting for Sunderland in Parliment

So, it’s not age or sex which bothers her or the 19,000 voters who swept her to power. What’s more concerning, and you could probably fill Old Trafford with MPs who agree, is the fear of misrepresentation, particularly when careers can be made or mauled by the slip of a tongue.

 

An early lesson occurred before her election when she joined would-be candidates for a Grazia interview.

 

Surely the glossy fashion magazine offering beauty tips and celebrity gossip is not a normal publication for cold hard politics?

 

And Telegraph columnist Liz Hunt thought the same, calling the 16 interviewees ‘a bunch of misfits... blow-dried to the nth degree, bundled into high street fashion’.

 

Indeed. Hunt quotes Bridget as saying, “While women are judged in ways that men are not, it should be about what you can achieve, not about being glam or pretty," then condemning her for ‘posing prettily in a tight black dress with plunging neckline.’

 

“It was arranged to show young women who read Grazia that politics can be for them, that they can make a difference. As a politician people will have an opinion, you accept that.” She says, casting her dark brooding eyes over my copy of the article.

 

Perhaps it’s all just too much in this age of information and news saturation. Sites like Facebook, although a fine communication tool must be fraught with danger for the younger generation of politicos.

 

I ask if she worries people will put pictures of her on these sites stumbling out of nightclubs vomiting on the streets?

 

She nodded and smiled nervously.

 

“You’re never off duty, which is a strange adjustment to make, I use networking sites to raise the profile of what I’m doing, a lot of my constituents write to me using these sites.”

 

Which is fine, and in her short time in Parliament she’s already pulled off impressive results including securing confirmation that a £20m grant, given to Nissan by the previous Government to produce electric cars, would be honoured, creating thousands of jobs.

 

And in a recent Parliamentary debate she urged Tory Business Minister Ed Vaizey and his Government to invest in Sunderland’s software industry if the UK is to be ‘at the heart’ of the world’s future markets.

 

To be an MP you have to be a skilled orator, an excellent communicator dodging questions with the skill and dexterity of a limbo dancer. And Bridget has that ability.

 

But she also speaks with a passion which is not to be confused with the conformity of her party’s political agenda. On being elected she called it a ‘humbling experience.’

 

When you hear politicians on TV it’s easy to dismiss them as cynical but it’s harder to do so when you meet one that seems genuine.

 

Her efforts are an antidote to anyone growing up believing the only way to succeed is to marry a footballer or become a celebrity.

 

Her story is one of hard work and dedication who wasn’t born to privilege or wealth.

 

Whether it’s her youth or desire to empower women, or neither, there’s no denying her dedication to blow away ‘New Labour’ cobwebs and actually get to the heart of issues which concern her constituents.

 

Most of those issues are also important to us all. And bearing in mind the country’s woeful economic state, Bridget, along with the 350 rookie parliamentarians, know the hopes of our nation rests firmly on their shoulders. And for how they get on, only time will tell.