Empowering the Next Generation: David Pinto-Duschinsky MP launches the ‘Careers in Public Life’ Campaign

David Pinto-Duschinsky, MP for Hendon, has always been open about his stammer and is a powerful advocate. David knows exactly why representation matters.

In this blog post, David explains why launching the new ‘Careers in Public Life’ campaign is so close to his heart. Read on to discover how this initiative aims to inspire young people who stammer to pursue careers in politics, public service, and leadership, and why he believes the future of public life needs every voice.

Growing up with a stammer is hard. It can make speaking difficult, it can knock your confidence, and sadly it can lead to bullying or discrimination. But there is also something quieter, and in some ways more damaging: the low expectations that build up around you.

People telling you, either directly or indirectly, that you should sit at the back and keep quiet. That speaking up is not for you. That certain careers, certain jobs, certain dreams are simply out of reach. After a while, those messages can start to feel like the truth. But they’re not.

Over two million adults in the UK have a stammer. Around one in twelve children will experience one. That is a huge number of people. And yet, when you look at public life and my line of work – politics – you would not know it.

Where are the CEOs with stammers? Where are the journalists, the broadcasters, the leaders in public life who speak differently and are still heard clearly for what they have to say? And most strikingly, where are the MPs?

If people with stammers were proportionately represented in Parliament, there would be over twenty MPs with a speech difference. But there are actually only a handful.

That really matters because it can make it feel like people who stammer are invisible. Shut out of opportunity. Shut out of public life. Denied a voice before they even get the chance to use it.

I won’t accept that.

I know what it feels like to grow up in a world where people with stammers were sometimes treated as figures of fun, or quietly assumed to be less capable. I know what it feels like to be aware, even as a child, that people might underestimate you because of how you speak.

But I also know something else: stammerers are among the bravest people I know. That is why I am starting this campaign. I want to tear down these barriers and open up politics and public service to people with speech differences. Because no one should ever be told that public life is not for them because of the way they talk.

Working with Action for Stammering Children, I am setting up a programme for young people with stammers. They will be able to learn more about Parliament, meet MPs and staff, and take part in workshops that show how politics actually works.

If you are a young person with a stammer, or you know someone who is, and they have an interest in politics or public service, I want to hear from you. Sign up via the link below to take part, and please pass the link on to anyone you know who might be interested. We cannot build a truly representative democracy if people with speech differences are quietly left out of it.