Tom Turner - Two weeks at Cardew

If someone had told me that they worked in ‘strategic communications’ and / or ‘public affairs’ earlier this year, I’m afraid I would have had to politely smile and nod – maybe managing a warm ‘how interesting!’, whilst their career shot over my head.

However, as my ‘full-time student’ days rapidly deplete, I’ve become increasingly curious about what career paths are most compatible with my skillset. With this in mind, I plugged my CV into AI (guilty).

Ding Ding Ding: ‘public affairs’, one of the top recommendations.

It also helped that Cardew has an ongoing relationship with the MA Government Studies course at KCL which I’m quickly coming to the end of, so I was convinced that it was well-worth an application: you had me at ‘two-week summer internship’.

Thankfully, I secured a place and got to spend two weeks working in Cardew’s public affairs team.

It was clear from the off that I had arrived at a busy time for the department; after a swift tour of the lovely office space and some introductions, half the team left to pitch to a prospective client, and I got working straight away on researching materials for an upcoming event for another client.

This first morning actually captures the energy of the two weeks very well – the team put trust in me to crack on with the tasks at hand but made it genuinely clear that they were there to help whenever I needed them.

This trust was exemplified on my second day, when I got to sit-in on a meeting in which they discussed a separate ongoing pitch process – it was fantastic to get this access so early.

Across the two weeks, I worked on a range of tasks including client media wraps, stakeholder mapping as well as event planning. Practically, this meant everything and anything from transcribing a Today programme interview, summarising a Westminster Hall debate, sieving through Google News for client coverage, to perusing some (pretty decent, I must say) event spaces in and around SW1.

It’s cliché to report, but each day was indeed different; the mornings were the most consistent part, when I worked on a daily media wrap of relevant coverage from the day before ready to be sent to a client.

What impressed me most about how the team operated was their ability to move seamlessly between supporting their different clients, each in different industries and so each requiring bespoke advice and support.

More personally, I really enjoyed gaining insight into how the goings on in government impact businesses in a range of sectors. Throughout my MA course, I have been submerged in the personalities and power-dynamics at play in the centre of the British political system. Being at Cardew for two weeks has been the perfect whistle-stop tour of the implications of these themes for businesses – easy to overlook when you hold a microscope to Westminster. 

For context, mine were the two weeks before the ‘Maker or Breakerfield’ by-election; which as we all know now heralded Andy ‘King-of-the-North’ Burnham’s return to Parliament. If I hadn’t been at Cardew, I’d have likely been following along with the campaign like some sort of Love Island All Stars series – ‘a returning bombshell re-enters the Commons Chamber…’  

Whilst I did keep my finger on the gossip pulse, being at Cardew meant that I bore witness to the practical implications of the political reality show.

As I sat at my desk, I watched on as the team advised clients on how a post-leadership challenge reshuffle might impact different policy areas; should they crack on with current strategies, or wait until the dust settles post June 18?

Thankfully, my eavesdropping could cease when a client gave the green light for me to attend a meeting on my second-to-last day, where they chewed over this exact question. It was eye opening to see first-hand how political turbulence impacts a business’ communications strategy; it was a privilege to be in the room for these important conversations.

I’m so glad I now know what this career path actually involves!