On Thursday 1st October 2026, UTC Portsmouth welcomed Dame Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport, to the college. The visit provided an excellent opportunity for students studying Politics as part of their Independent Development time to learn more about the role of an MP and ask questions about current political issues.
Dame Caroline Dinenage MP speaking to UTC Portsmouth students as part of their Politics Individual Development time.
The visit was arranged thanks to the initiative of Year 11 student Macey, who contacted Dame Caroline to invite her into the college.
Macey shares her experience of organising the visit and what students learnt from the opportunity to speak directly with an MP.
"The Politics Independent Development has run for the first four weeks and we have learnt about everything to do with the political world. We have learned about the UK government and how it is run, and compared it to American politics too. We have also had a local councillor in to talk about what they do in their role, and we have had many opportunities to discuss the different parties and to debate topical issues from different party's points of view. In the last session, MP Caroline Dinenage was invited in to talk about her role as an MP and to answer any questions we had for her.
Dame Caroline Dinenage informing UTC Portsmouth students about her experiences as an MP, and what it means to be an MP.
I had met Dame Caroline in the past at scouting events as she is an ambassador for scouting in Hampshire and speaks at a lot of events like St George's day. It was through this that I learnt members of the public are entitled to visit the public gallery and watch parliament in session. I attended the Prime Minister's question time twice where I got the opportunity to see parliament first hand, in the public gallery, and chat with Caroline about how her job in the building works and her career. When Miss Traynier mentioned to me that she was trying to get an MP into school to talk about their role in parliament I offered to email Caroline and ask her to come in and do a Q&A session with the politics students; after a bit of back and forth with her office she said she would be happy to come and tell us about her role in parliament and how she came to be a politician.
Dame Caroline Dinenage informing UTC Portsmouth students about her experiences as an MP.
We had the excitement of learning how parliament operates every day from how the prime minister is elected to the language they must use in the chamber. Afterwards we had the chance to question Dame Caroline about her career and current issues of the country where the students challenged her about immigration, climate change, and the current state of her constituents in Gosport . Overall it was a fantastic experience giving us a real insight into what it's like to work in the houses of parliament."