My time as an intern at Public First

Lorna Fielker is the Labour Cabinet Member for Health, Adults and Leisure at Southampton City Council and post graduate researcher at the University of Southampton. She has been working at Public First as an intern funded by the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership.

Arriving at the Public First offices on my first day as an intern was a bit daunting. First I was stuck by the irony of being an intern, a role generally associated with people in their late teens and early 20s not a middle-aged woman . Second, I had done my research, it’s a politically led organisation, with a range of views not necessarily reflective of my own, would I fit in? Finally, how on earth was I going to explain to people back in Southampton that I was working for a firm founded by one of the co-authors of the 2019 Conservative election manifesto that saw many traditional Labour seats turn blue. I took a deep breath and remined myself why I was attracted to this opportunity.

My fundamental ideology is built on Labour values and my vision of fairness in society, but I’m a pragmatist. Just because someone has a different view or supports a different political tradition does not mean their ideas have no merit. I think it is important to hear and understand what others are thinking and use this as a challenge to your own beliefs. I also know that good solutions are found when problems are explored from a range of angles and perspectives. It doesn’t matter how good you think your idea is, if it does not have a broad appeal, or you can’t bring people on a journey of change, it won’t succeed. Only talking to yourself in developing policy or solutions leads to failure. The mix of political insight at Public First should lead to innovative research and novel insights on public policy challenges. I was excited to see how this worked in practice.

During my time working with Liv Bailey, I have had an opportunity to get involved in a range of projects. I have helped a charity develop a commercial sponsorship strategy  for a national campaign through research and a facilitated discussion,  co-authored a report on  the general public perceptions of brain injury and contributed to the creation of a Citizens Panel. I  have really enjoyed the rapid pace of the research I have done on these projects, it’s very different from working  on a PhD or Masters dissertation, but those skills I have from the academic world adapted well to this different style. I take back to the academic world that challenge that good research is taking place outside of universities.

I experienced the other side of public sector procurement having helped bring together a large amount of information for a tender. In doing this I reflected on how that process may be a barrier to smaller organisations to bid for work, leaving the usual big players to hoover up contracts. I am taking back  learning from that to have conversations with commissioners  at Southampton City Council to make sure we get the balance right, particularly in procuring services from the voluntary sector.

Another piece of learning for me has been the ethnographic work which Ed Shackle completed in Stoke. This was rich research, and I can see how an outsider immersing themselves in a community for a period can gain different data to the traditional models, gaining new insights and therefore new ideas. This approach is particularly suited to those working on wicked problems in the health and environment policy areas, in which traditional methods of gaining understanding and coming up with solutions to influence behaviour change have failed.

So, what of Public First, does the eclectic mix of political views lead to better research and therefore better insights. From what I have observed, yes. There is plenty of space for meaningful political challenge to develop research pieces that can be meaningfully used by clients to influence public policy, and help clients understand how to navigate current and future governments to do that. There is also a strong sense of team, which feels slightly odd in a space where people have quite different views. This respect for people as individuals regardless of political ideology, and willingness to engage in challenging personal political beliefs and using this to inform the work is a strength of this agency.

I’ve really enjoyed this internship, I have met interesting people and had interesting conversations. Have these conversations shifted my politics, no, but it reminds me of the benefits of cross-party working on some issues. It’s given me insight into this world of work and confirmed what I thought, it is exactly what I want to do when I complete my research project. I’m really grateful to have been given the opportunity.