Last night was definitely one of the highlights of my London experience. Our group had a fireside scheduled with an LDS Member of Parliament, Mr. David Rutley, at the London Centre. We found out in the afternoon that he had a late vote happening in the House of Commons and so he scheduled a committee room for us to come to parliament to meet with him instead! I was sooooo excited.
Michelle and I left the centre early and stopped over at the South Kensington tube station to pick up Belgian waffles and gelato on the way to Westminster. The committee room was called the Grimond Room and was actually in the Portcullis House, across the street from the Palace of Westminster. We arrived 45 minutes early, so after we got through security we wandered the corridors looking at paintings and windows and the middle courtyard. There was one drawing that was like an over-sized political cartoon. It was a war scene and had all these different political interests labeled: Conservationists, Shi’ites, Pro-lifers, Smokers, Heterosexuals, Communists, etc, etc, until a particular faction caught our attention… Mormons! We were very surprised, considering how small the LDS population is here in England.
I really enjoyed Mr. Rutley’s presentation. He told us how he decided as a young adult that he was interested in affecting business and the economy via politics and set hefty goals for himself. To achieve these career goals, he did undergraduate work at BYU and the London School of Economics, did internships in Washington and London, worked in Business consulting, received a graduate degree at Harvard Business School, and then worked in several different UK government agencies and business sectors before finally becoming a Conservative MP in the House of Commons. When he was about to be sworn into office, they offered him a Book of Mormon and so he chose to swear allegiance to the Queen on both the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon. I thought that was so cool. I really enjoyed his story and passion for politics. He said that many people don’t think that politics are important, but he really believes that through politics he can make a difference. That is how I feel and I just loved listening to him talk. A real politician, thinking the same way I do. He deals more with fiscal politics; I want to do more in social. We had a question and answer session and I got to ask him several questions before he closed the meeting by reading a Winston Churchill quote and encouraging us to set outrageous goals for ourselves. As every other student rushed out the door, I jumped at the chance to ask Mr. Rutley about the topic for my term paper, multiculturalism in the UK. He was so friendly and helpful and gave me some great sources. I got to chat with him and two of the professors for about ten minutes and it was just so great. I almost didn’t want to go back to the centre because I didn’t want to hear everyone complaining about having to sit through a lecture on politics. I thought it was awesome. You know those women who scream because they got to touch Garth Brook’s hand? Well I got to chat with a British MP. And I was walking on Cloud 9. :D
