A month has passed since first-time MPs were sworn in following the June election – and some have been making more waves than others.

Laura Pidcock, who won the North West Durham seat for Labour, caused quite a stir with her maiden speech.

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As far as statements go, saying the palace of Westminster ‘reeks of establishment’ during your first official address as an elected member of parliament is fairly bold to say the least.

‘It was built at a time when my class and my sex would have been denied a place within it because we were deemed unworthy,’ she said, laying into the ‘archaic’ system.




After such a ferocious start, Metro.co.uk went to Parliament to find out how her first month as an MP has panned out.

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Pidcock, 29, told us: ‘I am not intimidated. Although this building was designed to intimidate, I don’t walk round here like a quivering wreck.

‘That speech was my one opportunity that the Tories weren’t allowed to heckle me, so I was going to say what I could.

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She adds: ‘Those that work for a living, those of my class who would have had absolutely no chance of having a voice.

‘This place does reek of the establishment, there are people in Westminster who are millionaires. There might even be people here who are billionaires.

‘There are politicians who have spent their whole life being primed for this.

‘They’re connected with banks, business, corporations, powerful media stakeholders. Working class people don’t have those kind of connections.’

With statements like that, it’s unsurprising to discover Pidcock isn’t from what most people would consider to be a typical Westminster background.

Laura Pidcock’s maiden speech was praised (Picture: Twitter)

At 15, Pidcock started working in McDonald’s before other service roles in cafes and pubs.

During a gap year she worked as an HIV awareness campaigner in the UK and then Nigeria and later shadowed a human rights lawyer.

After enrolling at Manchester University to study a politics degree, Pidcock made ends meet by working as a mental health support worker with vulnerable women.

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She moved back to her native north east after completing her studies and began to work for anti-racism charity Show Racism The Red Card.

Pidcock spent six and a half years of her career at the charity, where she and colleagues developed a programme for young people who had been radicalised towards the far-right.

It only takes a quick look at Pidcock’s background to see how her views were shaped.

She told Metro.co.uk: ‘My mam and dad were both activists, they had me on anti-Thatcher marches in my buggy. I was brought up in a political household.’

She was quick to admit she didn’t just fall into politics.

‘It’s a lie if anyone tells you that they just suddenly fancy politics. I was a county councillor and I’ve always tried to be active in the local community.’



She also shared a few tips about how young people can get into politics:

After a month as an MP, Pidcock’s day to day schedule has changed dramatically.

She said: ‘I can’t really believe it’s a job. When you’re an activist you do your job, that’s your work and then you do whatever meetings in your spare time.

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‘I get here [at parliament] at around 8 or 9am and depending if there are votes or how long debates go on for I could be here until 10 or 11pm, midnight sometimes.

On the average day, Pidcock attends committee or party meetings as well as receiving updates from the police, county council and other bodies.

She also keeps in the loop with case work from her constituencies, to maintain a close eye on what issues are being raised by members of her North Durham community.

‘I usually get the train [from London back to her Durham constituency] on Thursday night.

‘I have a Friday open office, I meet constituents and having meetings and then there can be a political party meeting.

‘On Saturday I often have campaigning or community events. And on Sunday I tend to catch up on a lot of emails.’

Working an almost seven-day week doesn’t appear to have diluted Piddock’s thirst to challenge the government’s policies surrounding austerity and welfare.

When we asked the most surprising thing she has witnessed since becoming an MP, she said she was shocked at the sheer amount of energy she expends through frustration.

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She told Metro.co.uk: ’Now I see the direct effects of what happens in here.


‘I sit opposite people that say “Oh, things are better now. Unemployment has declined. It’s lower than it’s ever been” without a critical analysis of the type of employment or if people in work are struggling.

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‘The things people say, I feel a lot of anger. I sometimes shake with anger at the pronouncements that are made by the other side and I just think you clearly do not represent an area like I do.

‘If you could hear the stories of the firefighters and the prison officers and people who are in council homes, of people who are struggling to put money on their electricity meter, because if you did, you wouldn’t be able to physically stand here and say that kind of sentence,’ she added.

‘That maiden speech, I wasn’t intending it to be really controversial or for it to go viral. It wasn’t that it was necessarily immensely poetic or profound, or even well performed. I think perhaps it had tapped in to a sense that people are feeling Westminster is just so detached from communities.

‘My following speeches may be more measured, but I am never going to be less angry.’

Watch Laura Pidcock MP’s maiden speech here:

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