Marc Levy: A Day In The Life
Have you ever wondered what a day in the life at Westminster is like? As Regional Manager for the North West, North Wales and West Midlands at the Jewish Leadership Council, I am often asked this question by friends, family, and colleagues in Manchester. So, I decided to keep a note of a typical day to share with you all.
The unique nature of the Jewish Leadership Council’s political engagement allows us to deliver on our community’s agenda. Our External Affairs team is comprised of talented and knowledgeable individuals who proactively advocate for our community at the highest levels of government. My work and achievements are not mine alone.
Our visible presence around Westminster enables us to openly speak to MPs and their staff and it is often the informal discussions with key stakeholders, which are even more productive than pre-arranged set-piece meetings. Through this work we ensure our valued member organisations can speak to elected representatives and officials who are active in their respective fields.
Our work is guided by our Key Position Paper, which outlines our current asks of the government and covers all areas of communal life. This document was drawn up in consultation with our members and is available on our website. So here is my day-in-the-life!
A few weeks ago, alongside the JLC's Co-CEO, Claudia Mendoza, I embarked on a busy day in Westminster, meeting with a number of key stakeholders to discuss issues outlined in our Key Positions Paper. First, we met the Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Lisa Nandy MP. Her department is of critical importance to the community as it contains the antisemitism brief. We discussed forthcoming legislation that will impact our community.
It was a pleasure to meet with Shadow Faith Minister, Sarah Owen MP. Her brief is of obvious importance to the community, and we will take action on some ideas for member discussions in the near future. We also met with Government Whip, Robert Largan MP. Robert has always been an outspoken friend to our community and we discussed a wide range of issues that will be fed back through the whip’s office and to wider government.
We also had a productive meeting with Samantha Dixon MP who recently won a By-Election in the City of Chester. We already had a pre-existing relationship due to her being Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council prior to her election. This initial discussion was to understand what she will be working on in Parliament and we plan to have a follow-up in due course.
The final pre-arranged meeting was with Dr Lisa Cameron MP, a key ally from the SNP. Lisa is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Disabilities which is looking to implement a scheme to assist people with disabilities having access to employment. It was therefore a perfect fit to introduce her to Debbie Lebrett from our member organisation Work Avenue. The APPG has some exciting plans that will include Work Avenue alongside other JLC members.
In addition, there were countless conversations with MPs and their staff. Future days in Westminster are already looking extremely busy as Parliamentarians seek to understand the latest CST Incident Report. We are keen to promote the wonderful work of our members and we always enjoy proactively welcoming them into Westminster to discuss their activities. This enables them to showcase how they operate at the highest levels to care for those in our community and beyond.
Our team works cross-party, with backbenchers, and frontbenchers, and across multiple issues in support of our fantastic member organisations. It is always a great pride of mine and the JLC to introduce our members to politicians and showcase the many areas of work our community is breaking new ground. We should be, and are, proud to show off the best of who we are.
