Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Jesse Norman speaks to members of the UK Youth Parliament.

Jesse Norman

Well, thank you very much indeed. Mr. Speaker, and what a delight it is to see this fantastic assembled Youth Parliament here today. My name is Jesse Norman. I rejoice, if that's the right word in the title of Shadow Leader of the House. The acronym is sloth. I have to say, it doesn't feel very slothful when I'm running around doing the Speaker's bidding and, the service of the House most of the time.

But, that's part of the joy of my job. And I don't want to give you a political speech of any kind. I just want to talk about three things that might be of interest to you as youth parliamentarians. So the first, the acronym I want you to take away is House of Commons H O C.

And the first one I want to start with is H for history. When you come into this building, you are entering a building that has been deliberately modelled after the Gothic period in our history. Of course, it was only 150, only a little more than 150 years, old. It's a bit of a con. It's the truth of the matter.

But it's designed to carry a majesty and an authority and a historical weight to it that reflects the quality and the importance of this institution of Parliament and Parliament itself, let me remind you, is an institution that goes back to the 13th century, and we can date it in various ways, with De Montfort’s Parliament did attempt to bring in people, and have them in, largely for reasons of raising tax, consent and agree to the process of politics as a way of securing public consent.

Absolutely essential component. And even indeed the elements that make up good government go well beyond that. I mean, we can date back to Anglo-Saxon times the idea when a reigning monarch should receive counsel and advice from people around him or her. That's a real, and it was of course her later on, very much so, and very emphatically so.

So that process of historical development is something that I hope that as youth parliamentarians, you will take away from today and think about and meditate on and learn about as you go about your own lives. That's the H in HOC. The O is oratory. This is a fantastic moment for you, ladies and gentlemen, to practice your oratorical skills in front of no lesser figure than our magnificent Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

And if any of you do become Speaker, you will be following a glorious reign that our current incumbent has had. And of course, you will have to be waiting quite a long time before he will consent to give up the post, because, he's enjoying it and giving so much to it. But I hope you will, as youth parliamentarians, think about what you can learn about how you consent.

And there are many of my colleagues, dare I say, in Parliament, who don't do that. I don't mean Ministers from the Dispatch Box who often have to read what they say. I mean people from the backbenches who often you see them in PMQs reading the little questions. Absolutely not. What we want is people who can speak extempore from the Dispatch Box or from the backbenches and enliven and engage each other in debates.

And I know you're going to do that today and I congratulate you for it and thank you for it. And the final point is C. C for careers. Now many of you as the, as the Speaker said, may be future cabinet ministers or members of parliament or even, dare I say, possibly Prime Ministers. I hope you won't be those things until you've done something outside politics, because what you bring to politics is what really distinguishes an effective parliamentarian.

So go out when you finish your studies, go out, learn, fail, run teams, make money, lose money, give yourself in volunteer work, do whatever is necessary to have a really rich and fulfilling and rewarding life. And then when you do that, you will have something incredibly special and powerful to bring back to your constituents. So when you make your careers, make them in politics, but make them having had careers elsewhere, politics, bringing an extra piece of public service to what you've already achieved.

That's HOC House of Commons ladies and gentlemen, I thank you so much for having me. Let me say one thing. It's famously been said that politics is showbusiness for ugly people. When I look at the energy and the joy and the driving, the vigor around this chamber today, I didn't see any ugly people. But I do see some potentially very formidable politicians.

Thank you very much indeed.