Cathy

Cathy Jamieson may be one of the only MPs that started out her professional life as a social worker. After studying art psychotherapy at Goldsmiths, she went on to work as an art therapist, social worker and community worker.

Cathy explains: “My time at Goldsmiths changed the way I thought about art in a social context. I developed my thinking on how I could use my learning in a way that would be useful to wider society. Very importantly the course linked to practical placements which quite literally shaped my future career. Working with a range of academics, practitioners and other students from different backgrounds was really valuable.”

Over the next two decades she dedicated her time to working with disadvantaged groups, focusing on supporting young people, particularly young offenders and those in care. She moved into the world of politics in 1999 when she was elected to the Scottish Parliament and later held the role of Minister for Justice. During this time, she took a leading role on anti-social behaviour and commissioned a major review of Scotland’s civil justice system.

Cathy then became a Westminster MP in 2010. As well as representing her constituency she is also currently serving as the Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury. And Cathy is still drawing on her Goldsmiths training.

“I have made constant use of what I learned at Goldsmiths – particularly how to think creatively and problem solve. The combination of having an art background, which makes you think outside the box, and the social work background of analysing situations and then deciding how to act, is quite unusual but it’s been very good for me,” she added.