Meet Linda

Many MPs rely on the Members’ Library Service for research, reading material, and a quiet place to work. We ask the Library’s manager, Linda Coombs, what it’s like being the first point of contact for MPs and how the Library is preparing for the new Parliament.

Linda, this is your first general election in Parliament – how are you feeling about it? 

It’s really exciting! There are a lot of new things happening that I haven’t experienced before, like dissolution, prorogation and new MPs coming in after election day.

I think being at the heart of what the country is talking about is really exciting. It will be interesting to get into the nuts and bolts of how things actually work. Then look forward to the new Parliament and seeing what ideas come out through the election – it could direct the Library research we’re working on for the next few years.

We’re also seeing long-serving MPs standing down in this election. These are people who’ve potentially put many years of their personal lives on hold, and it’s been really interesting to see those people effectively retiring and finally getting some rest.

There are so many opportunities in Parliament during an election! Tell us more about how your team is getting involved.

Some people are buddying, so helping new MPs understand the different services that are available to them, how things work, and literally finding their way around the building. Some people are helping with the candidate database, where they’re gathering information about all the different candidates. Some of us will also be staying up to gather data on election night. I’ve volunteered to do that, which will be really interesting! I’ve always wanted to stay up for an election and never had the chance before. It’ll be quite busy, but it’ll be fun.

My team are also doing a lot of work to prepare the new MPs for their maiden speeches. We email every new MP with everything they need to write their maiden speech, including the maiden speeches made by their predecessors and a history of the constituency. Maiden speeches are the first time that an MP speaks in the House of Commons, so it’s a big moment for them. We do everything that we can to make sure that the new MPs feel confident and well-informed for their maiden speeches. And hopefully, that kicks off a good relationship with the Library for the rest of their parliamentary career.

Once the general election is over, what’s next?

One of the main challenges after the 2019 election was that it was really difficult to build relationships with MPs’ staff in constituency offices because of COVID. They disappeared, and it was quite tricky to build that working relationship with them. We’re hoping after this election we can solidify our relationship with MPs and the constituency offices a lot more in the early year or two of the new Parliament, so we’re planning to do a lot of constituency visits.

You’re often the first person MPs see when they come into the Library. What’s the one thing you’d like a new MP to know?

Just know that we’re friendly and if we don’t know the answer, we’ll help them find it. We’ll help them with the little things or the big things, whether it’s showing them where the printer is or helping them find the right information for debates. We’re here to help them and we want them to know they can ask us anything. And even if it’s not really technically our job, we’ll still try our best to help you.