The Parliamentary Staffer of the Year Award has been awarded to a staff member in Alex Sobel’s constituency office.
Natalie Wells-Russell, Senior Caseworker for Alex Sobel MP, was presented the award at a ceremony in the Speaker’s chamber in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
There are thousands of staff members working for MPs up and down the country, and this level of competition underlines Natalie’s significant achievement.
This is the inaugural year of the awards, sponsored by Prospect Magazine and Octopus, and is designed to celebrate those members of staff who provide Members of Parliament with the support that they need to provide the best possible service to constituents.
Ms Wells-Russell was given the award in recognition of her service to the people of Leeds North West, having a key role in closing thousands of cases and helping people in the constituency on a wide range of issues.
Natalie said, “It was a huge surprise to win the award and I really appreciate the acknowledgement both for myself and for Alex and our fantastic team, who work so hard every day for Leeds North West.
Some MPs choose to pretend that they don’t have staff and hide them away in the office, but Alex has always appreciated the value of a team and this has been key to his success in his first 18 months as an MP.
It is an honour to work alongside Alex to fight the injustices that have been forced upon his constituents in recent years, in particular those facing cuts to benefits, housing shortages and reductions to public services and to I look forward to doing the same in 2019.”
Alex Sobel said, “Natalie started soon after my election and helped me set up an entire new casework system. Since then, she’s dealt successfully with over 3000 cases, some of which have had recognition from the National Press and in Select Committee reports. Natalie and my team are first class professionals pulling out all the stops for the people of Leeds North West.”