*AN EXCLUSIVE REPORT BY GRADUATE FOG*
The three leading candidates in the race to become the new Mayor of London on 3rd May claim to view youth unemployment as a priority — but how many have been relying on unpaid interns to promote their campaign for office in the last few months? Graduate Fog decided to investigate…
BORIS JOHNSON, CONSERVATIVE
Says: “It’s a modern tragedy that so many of our young people are struggling to get a foothold in the jobs market and are drifting into crime.”
Unpaid internship adverts found: Six
Official response from his people: “We don’t have any interns on the campaign.”
The evidence:
BoJo racked up the largest number of unpaid internship ads we could find online, with an impressive score of six. One was for a “campaign assistant”, paying just travel and lunch expenses. Duties included “administration, data entry, analysis and day-to-day running of a busy office”. Candidates were assured that “both full-time and part-time applications will be considered” and that “This position will provide an excellent opportunity for candidates to further enhance their CVs and gain valuable political and office-based experience.” It would “suit a student, recent graduate of an individual who is looking to learn more about how Political campaigning works.”
The second was for “campaign intern” who “will roll up their sleeves and support the delivery of Boris’ re-election,” for just travel and lunch expenses. The intern would “assist with young people’s involvement in the Back Boris 2012 campaign” and “assist in a range of campaigning activities and liaise with campaign organisers at all levels.” Candidates are assured that “this is your chance to get involved at the very heart of the campaign.”
The third was for multiple ‘volunteers’ on the telephone canvassing team, and the others were for “campaign volunteers.” As these were sold as opportunities to “gain experience”, we can assume they are aimed at young jobseekers interested in starting a career in politics.
The response:
When we approached Johnson’s people about the adverts, they denied all knowledge, saying: “If you want an on the record response on the advert you will need to go to whoever took out the advert as it wasn’t us. It is not our advert. We are not advertising for interns. We also don’t have interns on the campaign.” This seemed weird, so we asked again — and this is the response we got: “As I said, you’ll need to contact the person who took out the advert as it wasn’t anything to do with the campaign. And we don’t have any interns on the campaign.” They declined to answer any further questions about the matter.
KEN LIVINGSTONE, LABOUR
Says: “I introduced the London Living Wage because below that people are living in poverty.”
Unpaid internship adverts found: None
Official response from his people: “Our volunteers roles have been approved by Intern Aware.”
The evidence:
We found no evidence that Ken’s campaign has been using unpaid interns — which either means he doesn’t have any, or just that they’ve been much more careful than Boris and Brian’s campaigns in how they recruit them. An advert for “campaign volunteers” posted in November 2011 did not outline specific tasks or responsibilities and said the volunteers could choose their own hours. It did not appear to be targeted at young jobseekers any more than any other age group and it was stated that the advert had been approved by Graduate Fog’s friends at the campaign group Intern Aware. Travel and lunch expenses were offered.
The response:
Ken’s spokesperson told us: “We have volunteers who give their time on a voluntary basis to help the campaign. They are paid expenses for any receipted travel and lunch costs incurred. Our volunteer adverts and the way we work with volunteers are approved by internaware – the national campaign to end unpaid internships.” They declined to say how many of these ‘volunteers’ were under 25 and hoping to pursue a career in politics.
BRIAN PADDICK, LIB DEM
Says: “Unpaid internships are slave labour as far as I’m concerned, plain and simple”
Unpaid internships adverts found: Two
Official response from his people: “The Brian Paddick campaign does not have any interns.”
The evidence:
Oh dear, what happened here? We’re not quite sure. The first ad we found was for a ‘volunteer intern’, described as a “hands-on role in a fast moving political environment, one where you will be expected to pitch in and learn on the job the many skills needed for an effective ground campaign,” but paying only “travel within London and lunch expenses.” Applicants are warned that “Political campaigners keep erratic hours so flexibility and an easy going nature will make life easier and the campaign even more fun!” Still, applicants were at least assured “we absolutely understand that it may be necessary for you to work part time,” which is thoughtful of them…
The second was for multiple “phone canvassing volunteers”. The salary was stated as ‘None’ so presumably travel and lunch expenses weren’t even on offer. Candidates were told “You will be making calls from the new phone bank at the Ministry of Sound in the evenings leading up to the elections on Thursday 3rd May 2012.” As with Boris’ ads for ‘volunteers’, this was clearly aimed at young jobseekers, as it was sold as “an excellent opportunity to develop key skills.”
The response:
Initially, Paddick’s people said: “We don’t have any interns on the campaign.” When we showed them the ads concerned, they said: “Like all political campaigns, we welcome help from volunteers of all ages. These are supporters who give their time freely to help out with everything from phone canvassing to door knocking. Some of our phone bank volunteers have done two hours as a one-off, and some have returned on a regular basis.” Sgain, they declined to say how many of these ‘volunteers’ were under-25 and hoping to pursue a career in politics.
GRADUATE FOG SAYS…
Political campaigns rely on volunteers – but are the many young people working on Boris, Ken and Brian’s election campaigns really doing it purely out of their passion for the cause? Frankly, we doubt it – we suspect they hope it will lead to paid work in the future. In which case, are the candidates guilty of taking advantage of desperate young jobseekers, in their quest for office?
All three men claim they see London’s youth unemployment crisis as a priority – but Boris and Brian have certainly ‘sold’ their volunteer roles as an opportunity to gain experience, suggesting they are targeting those at the start of their career. If these really are such a valuable opportunity, they should ask themselves whether it is fair that they are only open to those young people who can afford to work for them for free.
In addition, the legal status of these unpaid internships and volunteer positions remains clear to us. It is our understanding that none of the candidates would be covered by the ruling by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) which appears to allow MPs to have unpaid interns, as they are not MPs. Also, as far as we are aware, none of the campaigns is a registered charity, so they could not claim exemption from the minimum wage law on that count either. We gave all three candidates’ representatives the chance to clarify the matter but they declined.
*HAVE YOU INTERNED FOR BORIS, KEN OR BRIAN?
Did you receive payment for your work? How many other interns were working on the campaign? Do you feel you were a genuine ‘volunteer’ – or were you doing it primarily for your CV? Would you have had access to the opportunity if you hadn’t been able to work for free? Should mayoral candidates pay their interns?
See the adverts for yourself:
” but are the many young people working on Boris, Ken and Brian’s election campaigns really doing it purely out of their passion for the cause? Frankly, we doubt it”
Bit unfair on Ken, you found no evidence and they said the way they work with their volunteers is approved by your friends at Internsaware.
I’ve attended Brian’s phone bank as a volunteer, and I do so on a regular basis, but there is no obligation on me being there, no “hours” etc. I’m a political activist, and I do so in my spare time. I don’t consider that I’m obliged to spend a particular time there. I do so because I want Brian to win! Advertising facilities for activists is hardly using “unpaid interns” . . .
@Anthony
So you’re not looking to pursue a career in politics?
Telephone canvassing definitely isn’t an internship. I get those adverts as I’m on the conservatives’ mailing list and you can literally turn up for 2 hours, every day or not at all. A lot of middle-aged/non students do this too. All political parties have volunteers – eg canvassers who go round door knocking before elections. They tend to be middle-aged or retired people and again it’s definitely not an internship!
It’s definitely not a job or internship, it’s similar to if you volunteered at an animal charity shelter cleaning the animals’ environments or something.
This article is somewhat mad… You’re conflating various bits of legislation and informal regulation, as well as failing to recognise that an awful lot of people, regardless of age, get involved in politics for the sake of… well… getting involved at politics. Activists can be old or young – why should younger ones be more likely to be doing it for their CVs than older ones? I know plenty of people in their 30s,40s and 50s with political ambitions that they are clearly trying to cultivate through party activism.
Sorry my above comment isn’t clear.
I meant you can turn up for 2 hour sessions and there is no commitment – you can go every day, once or week or just once or twice over the entire (3 month+) campaign period.
@Derrick
Fair point about Ken. Call me a cynic, but I’m just really struggling to believe there really are NO interns on his campaign…
@Alex
I’m not saying there are no true volunteers on these campaigns – just that I am hearing stories about quite a few of them who are looking increasingly like full-time (or almost full-time) workers for these candidates, just not being paid a penny for their contribution. IMO the fact they’re doing it out of desperation for experience means they’re not true volunteers – and I think it’s a legitimate question to ask whether they are being taken advantage of.
@James
You say: “Activists can be old or young — why should younger ones be more likely to be doing it for their CVs than older ones?”
In my experience, in the current climate it is young people (typically under 25) who are most likely to be desperate enough to offer to work for free for no pay, in the hope that the ‘experience’ will increase the likelihood of them being able to find paid work in future. Unfortunately, they discover that often an unpaid internship only leads to yet another unpaid internship, and another… All too often, employers are more than happy to take their labour without paying them a wage, even knowing that they are doing it out of desperation.
What we have seen is the systematic cheapening of young people’s labour over the last few years in many industries, including politics. Ask anybody over 30 if they work for free and they’ll say you’ve got a screw loose. There is a difference between volunteering to man the phones for a couple of hours in the evening after your (paid) day job – and doing what’s effectively a full-time day job for nothing.
Maybe Ken employs his campaign interns via his tax avoidance company Silveta?
I’ve volunteered with Ken Livingstone’s team before and can confirm that there are zero interns, only volunteers that are free to chooose when they want to come in and get paid travel and lunch expenses. There’s a mix of dedicated political activists, graduates trying to get experience of campaigning and some foreign students but they are all free to come and go as they please. There’s a mixture of phonebanking and helping to organise events and are generally well supported by the campaign staff.
@Anon
Thanks for commenting – that’s really interesting. How many hours a week do you volunteer?
I’m hearing that some young ‘volunteers’ on these campaigns are doing several days a week… Do you know anyone doing that?
I’m hearing that some young ‘volunteers’ on these campaigns are doing several days a week… Do you know anyone doing that?
No but it doesn’t surprise me, if people are passionate about something or believe in it then they will give up considerable amounts of time.
The issue not to lose sight of here, is whether the tasks and nature of the work make them ‘workers’ or ‘volunteers’ or ‘voluntary workers’.
What a strange story this has been!
It’s had a tonne of traffic – so presumably there are a lot of people who agree that there is something distasteful about three men who claim they care about youth unemployment yet who are apparently happy to accept the unpaid labour of young people who can ill afford to work for several days a week unpaid. But these people seem not to be contributing to the comments below, for some reason.
Although we have heard from two ‘volunteers’ who insist they are definitely not being taken advantage of, I continue to believe that many of these young people they are working alongside are doing it primarily for the experience / for their CV, not out of passion for their cause – but perhaps I am wrong, as they’re not speaking up here?! Let’s hope a few more come forward so we can get a better sample of opinions.
There is another important point to stress here, which perhaps I didn’t underline enough in the initial piece. If we’re agree that working, say, three days a week unpaid for three months (i’ve heard that some interns work for up to six months) IS beneficial for a person’s CV, contacts etc, are we saying it’s okay that this valuable opportunity should only be available with the means to enable them to work for that period without pay?
As for those who say ‘well, this is only part-time’, I’m still struggling to see how these young people are making ends meet without relying financially on someone, whether that’s their parents or the state in the form of benefits. What are these ‘volunteers’ doing with their other four days a week, that enables them to pay their rent, travel and bills etc, with no outside assistance?
I know I certainly couldn’t afford to devote three whole days a week to working for free, and I suspect I earn a little bit more from my paid work than people just starting out in their careers. Can anyone explain how this adds up? If someone is working three days a week unpaid, are they working for the remaining four days of the week? Are they also working in the evening? Do they ever get any time off?
The only one that I think is totally out of order is the Lib Dem advert. I’d say the rest seem alright.
I do full-time hours (Monday-Friday 9-5) now but, if I was passionate about a political cause (I’m not right now) then, I’d give a couple of hours on a weekend, no problem.
When I was working weekend late~ish shifts (also full time Wednesday-Sunday, 6pm-1am), if I was passionate about something then, I’d give a couple of hours during the day time, no problem.
Although naturally there will be people out there who are desperate enough for experience to include this as a *POSITION/PLACEMENT/INTERNSHIP* on their CV, I think if I did it, I’d probably include it as an “interest”.
Bear in mind, I don’t have a tonne of experience, quite the contrary!… I just feel you’d have to be a fool to consider this “experience” in the sense of placements or internships.
For me: These are NOT placements or internships. This is not the gateway to a career. This is not “work” experience. This is an interest.
And before anyone says “But what if politics is your interest, and your career choice?” – Then, if you ask me, this isn’t the way to experience it.
I would not worry too much about the LibDems in this May3 election. However good Paddick is, the party is in deep disgrace for breaking so many of its General Election promises. I voted for them last time and never will again. The London mayoral election will be a three horse race: Boris, Ken and UKIP’s Webb as outsider. A vote for anyone else is a fine gesture following conscience, but won’t register on the Richter Scale.
Boris is a jovial arrogant posh boy in the current mold. Traditional Conservatives will choose him, also those who think Ken is too much of a maverick.
Ken is a strong George Galloway style candidate, only one seeking a position above his ability and he scares even quite a few Labour supporters because of memories of how he behaved last time.
UKIP’s Webb is another right-of-centre candidate but no maverick nor arrogant posh boy. Nor does he present himself as a gameshow host like Boris and Ken, but we don’t know much about him. Even with the BBC’s and general media’s efforts to keep UKIP hidden away in a corner he still stands a good chance of surprising the political status quo with more votes than they expected. The folly of the multi-billion HS2 is a big deal in some of the outer boroughs especially and only UKIP opposes HS2.
My money is on Boris, though he is not going to be my choice.
I would agree that the kind of commitment Alex described doesn’t really count as work in the sense of a placement/internship. It does sound like true volunteering to me, especially since the time seems so flexible. Of course, some people do volunteering because they’re passionate about something, others do it to get some sort of experience, other for a mixture of both. I’m sure there are transferrable skills to be gained/improved doing this, but the fact that someone is doing it for experience doesn’t make it work. As for the amount of time some people spend doing this, it might be explained by most universities having finished the term already, so students have more free time to dedicate to this. Again, the amount of time someone spends doing this doesn’t make it work unless they are obliged to follow set hours on a regular basis.
Anecdotally, I know some people at my university who campaign for Ken and it works much like Alex describes – an email comes around and whoever feels like it can turn up, do something (I think they mostly do canvassing and leafletting) for a couple of hours, and that’s it. I’m not involved in this myself but the people who are actually really support Ken/Labour and so are doing it out of political affiliation rather than career-mindedness (although I’m sure if they’re involved on a regular basis, they could probably put it on their CV and point out the skills they used or learned doing this).
“… but the fact that someone is doing it for experience doesn’t make it work”
“As for the amount of time some people spend doing this, it might be explained by most universities having finished the term already…”
“… Again, the amount of time someone spends doing this doesn’t make it work unless they are obliged to follow set hours on a regular basis.”
I like the way you think, Kayla! Some cast-iron points right there – I agree with you wholeheartedly!
Boris’s campaign office is in Savile row. I saw people in boris t shirts going in and out of a building there.
@craig
I’d be interested to hear from those who have interned on these campaigns as to where on their CV they list this ‘volunteering’. I accept that a couple of hours a week could come under Ãnterests’, but if i was giving up 3 days a week (which i think is a substantial commitment), I would want it to appear under my work history…
Again, from the campaign interns I have spoken to, this is very much considered a career stepping stone, not just an outside interest…
@kayla
“… but the fact that someone is doing it for experience doesn’t make it work”
No, but don’t you feel these men have any responsibility not to take advantage of young jobseekers who are so desperate to gain experience that they are prepared to work for free? And what about all their poorer friends who can’t afford to do 3 days a week unpaid, isn’t it unfair on them that their richer friends are able to claim such a huge advantage over them, purely because of their parents’ financial situation? Again, I’m talking about the interns doing several days a week unpaid here, doing work that strongly resembles a real job…
@Tanya,
Well, that depends. If it really is a matter of canvassing/phonebanking or other similar activities, like Alex describes, then I’d be inclined to say that it’s not a job and therefore doesn’t have to be paid. I don’t really see how it’s relevant that someone might have more time to spend on this than someone else, since there are no fixed or required hours – much like volunteering in a dog shelter or running an academic society, it’s simply a matter of how much free time and committment the person in question has and no one is excluded on the basis of not being able to do 3 days a week or 9-5 every day. If it’s fair that some people have more free time than others, I cannot say.
If, on the other hand, the position in question has set hours and tasks – like for instance the first one you quoted for Brian Paddick sounds like – then yes, I agree that it most likely fits the definition of a worker and should be remunerated accordingly. In this case, the volunteering loophole is likely being misused to avoid paying an actual member of staff, and that is wrong.
Great piece, and another case of politicians saying one thing, and doing something completely else.
How – Boris Johnson and Brian Paddick – are we ever going to trust people like you when you (or your teams) tell bare-faced, straightforward lies like this. Maybe you think people won’t check, or you can just get away with it if you say that black is white often enough? You can’t, and you haven’t.
Well done Tanya!!
In the scheme of things, I am sure that, whereas the electorate will consider the issue of a candidate exploiting someone willing to work for them for nothing, let alone the psychology of the person willing to sacrifice their soul to work for a candidate for nothing, they will be even more concerned with the fact that candidates may not be paying their fair share of tax.
If a candidate, for example, sets up a limited company (as in the case of Ken Livingstone), and negotiates a payment for services through that limited company, then they may only end up paying Corporation Tax at 21% on the profit of the company and not the 40% rate associated with Income Tax.
Now…. Boris Johnson has been fully open with his tax affairs, including those associated with his limited company, Ken Livingstone has yet to be and is still maintaining extreme silence over his tax affairs, and as for Brian Paddock…. frankly, no Liberal may be considered to be a Serious Contender given the complicity and deceit of the Liberals over the issue of Student Tuition Fees.
Maybe we should have a law whereby all people offering themselves up for public office by election should be compelled to disclose their tax affairs in sufficient detail to let voters form an opinion of their history and suitability.
Ken refuses to keep his promise to disclose his Silveta Ltd activities. Silence may equal innocence in some quarters, but for me in this context it implies guilt. Boris has disclosed enough for us to get a clear enough understanding. I cannot say I am really happy about either of them.
Boris is earning a fortune ‘on the side’ apart from his duties as Mayor and although disclosure is good for the soul I would prefer he spent a lot more of his time doing his job as Mayor. Ken’s tax-avoidance business has a large six-figure sum available according to its last published accounts. Neither of these pot and kettle candidates is squeaky clean in my opinion, and both are certainly big earners. I think Eowyn Rohan is right about the Liberals having written themselves off generically because of Student Tuition Fees as well as other broken promises.
Since when did we change the subject onto who to elect?
Have you interned unpaid for Boris, Ken or Brian? Or for any other well-known political figure? Fancy some free money?
Check out Interns Fight for Justice – the new campaign from Graduate Fog and Intern Aware. We are looking for interns who are feeling brave / angry / skint enough to challenge their former employers and request the wages they are owed for the work they did unpaid.
Even if your internship was a while ago and you agreed to work unpaid at the time, that doesn’t matter. The minimum wage works out at around £1,000 a month, so depending on the length of your internship you could be in line to receive a tidy sum!
Just get in touch with us for more information:
https://graduatefog.co.uk/2012/2080/interns-fight-justice-campaign/
Thanks!
Graduate Fog x
PS. None of this will cost you a penny!