Abstract
How To Be A Parliamentary Researcher is an ambitious project. The job itself is notori-ously difficult to pin down, and although the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) has recently set what appears to be a clear job description for the role, it still remains in dynamic flux – bending to the needs of the office, the MP, the constituency, the Party and so on.
The book sells itself as an in-depth, modern and comprehensive introduction to life as a Parliamentary Researcher. It focuses on the key aspects of the job and how best to undertake them, yet also moves beyond its brief as prosaic job description, delving into the nitty gritty of Westminster life. Its focus is clearly Westminster-centric, but this allows Robert Dale to share his insider secrets which are critically important to one’s success as a researcher.
The book is objective and follows no party lines; it takes clear examples from all sides of the House and sets out chapter by chapter how to become a Parliamentary Researcher and how to be successful in this role. The audience may be narrowed to only those interested in a career in Westminster, but the book should also be considered useful reading for all those involved in British politics.
Throughout the work, Dale reminds the audience again and again of the importance of a Parliamentary Researcher to his or her Member of Parliament. He achieves his aim in providing a well laid out and vastly detailed work with plenty of lessons. There are aspects of his personal experience that run throughout the text and yet it remains a bird’s-eye view of parliamentary researchers at work.
Particularly impressive is Dale’s ability to combine the traditional aspects of parliamentary life with the ever-changing dynamism of modern politics. Commendable is his focus on ‘iDemocracy’, as it will become an ever more critical tool, both to Parliamentary Researchers and to their respective MPs.
The book could and perhaps should be seen as a clear-cut guide for researchers. Its variety of examples – some real life, some hypothetical – are undoubtedly useful and it is courtesy of this that the book is a useful handbook for those looking at life in Westminster. Overall, How To Be A Parliamentary Researcher does provide the comprehensive, up-to-date content that should be expected; it is an easy read and fits well within the series of other ‘how to’ books.