Doing English is intensely political. It's about your power to get your point over and communicate well...It was a good choice... it has probably helped me quite a bit in my career.
Where will English take you? Politics and Diplomacy
Andy Burnham, the British Prime Minister, is an English Faculty graduate. He had to persuade his engineer father to support his degree choice, bringing him the poem 'V' by Tony Harrison, which begins with these words by the trade unionist Arthur Scargill: 'My father still reads the dictionary every day. He says your life depends on your power to master words.' Burnham believes that English was a 'good choice' and that it contributed to his success, teaching him the power of language, giving him the ability to get his point across, and to inject emotion into what he does and says.
Another alumnus, Lord Chris Smith, also found that his English degree served him well in his political career, including as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Now Chancellor of this University, he recalls being ‘taught, enthused, uplifted, and enlightened’ by his degree here, and argues that there is 'no better preparation for a career in public life than the study of English literature through the ages' as it teaches you 'more about human nature, thought, passion, sensibility, society and relationships than anything else could’.
Other alumni have gone into diplomacy, including diplomat Peter Abbott and Sir Laurie Bristow, who was the UK's Ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020. During that time, he commented that 'studying English is pretty good grounding for some of the things that I do. Dealing with very complex arguments, arguing a case, and also accepting that we don’t always hold the only valid view on a subject.'
3 Alumni in Politics
Karen Pierce, Diplomat
Girton, 1978
Dame Karen Price is a senior British diplomat who is currently UK Special Envoy to the Western Balkans. Neither of her parents had been to university, but she had inspiring teachers at her comprehensive school in Preston who gave her a love of reading and led to her applying to study English. Previous roles have included being British Ambassador to the USA from 2020 to 2025, and the UK's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She was described by ITV news as a 'no nonsense ambassador who rarely minces her words.' You can hear her talk about her route to Cambridge:
Bryony Worthington, Environmental Campaigner
Queens' College, 1990
Baroness Bryony Worthington has campaigned for over twenty years on environmental issues, especially climate change and energy. She attended a comprehensive school in Wales and was the first member of her family to go to university. Her proudest achievement was establishing a Friends of the Earth campaign to bring in new climate laws and leading the drafting of the bill, which became law in 2008. She is now a member of the House of Lords. You can hear her talk about her time at Cambridge and how she found her way into politics, beginning with just a 'general curiosity and an interest in how the world worked':
Andy Burnham, Prime Minister
Fitzwilliam College, 1988
Andy Burnham became the Prime Minister of the UK in 2026. He was born in Lancashire and grew up in what he has described as a tight-knit, working-class Catholic family. In an interview with The Times he said that his dad persuaded him to apply to Cambridge because 'it will throw all the doors open for you in life'. Burnham was first elected as an MP in 2001, held ministerial roles in both government and opposition, and became Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017. You can hear him speak about applying for English and how Cambridge helped him 'achieve things I never thought I could have achieved' here: