Meet Chloe; Inclusion Lead

What attracted me to working at the House of Commons goes back to when I came here on a school trip aged 16 and remember thinking, “I would love to work here.” It was the combination of history and politics, my two favourite subjects.

Before joining the House of Commons, I was a fast-stream civil servant at HM Treasury. After that, I worked on aid projects through my twenties in London and around the world, some government-linked and others with organisations such as Oxfam and Save the Children.

I was recruited here as an International Development Committee specialist and then became a Clerk. Since then, I’ve had varied experience, including roles in the Library, security, and procedural positions such as the Table Office, as well as select committees including Treasury and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. I now work part-time in Shared Team Services while undertaking a PhD run jointly by Parliament and the University of Warwick. My research explores Parliament’s history of sexuality and gender, and its engagement with minority groups over previous centuries.

The PhD has been an amazing development opportunity. I’ve also had procedural training as a developing clerk in the chamber and have trained as a coach. I recently completed a Westminster Abbey Institute fellowship, which was deeply beneficial. It provided a chance to explore public service and values-led work, and I’ve maintained strong links as vice-chair of the Fellows Council there.

A typical day varies depending on whether I am working in Team Services or on my PhD. On a Team Services day, it is usually meetings and drafting documents relating to Inclusion and Diversity work in CPT and SCT. On a PhD day, I might be in the archives examining original parliamentary papers and plans from the 19th century.

One of my proudest achievements has been being accepted onto the PhD, which will help illuminate Parliament’s past in terms of equalities and support a better understanding of the present-day institution.

I do feel part of something meaningful. Since medieval times, the nation’s administrative and legal centre has been here on the banks of the Thames, and we are the current custodians with a duty to look after its buildings, its people and its work.

What stands out most to me is the wonderful people I’ve worked with over the past 20 years and the range of experiences you can have here. There is a real sense of community and suppor