{"id":1099,"date":"2016-12-08T17:46:47","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T17:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/?p=1099"},"modified":"2025-07-26T17:20:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T21:20:52","slug":"laura-mcelwain-colquoun-99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/laura-mcelwain-colquoun-99\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura McElwain Colquoun \u201999"},"content":{"rendered":"

In June, the people of the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union, and Laura McElwain Colquhoun \u201999 stayed up late to watch the results. In what would become a year of missed predictions and political upsets, Londoners were shocked at the results, but at home in Pasadena, Maryland, Colquhoun saw it coming.<\/p>\n

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As a first-year political science student at Goucher, Colquhoun took a class on British politics with Professor Marianne Githens, who asked if she was interested in doing her study abroad in London. The Hansard Society, a British charity, was offering American students the chance
\nto intern with Members of Parliament. Colquhoun said yes.<\/p>\n

The British MPs were asked to choose interns from a pile of resumes. Colquhoun was picked by a brand new member of the House of Commons, one who would go on to become the United Kingdom\u2019s second- ever female Prime Minister: Theresa May.<\/p>\n

May didn\u2019t appear to be in it for\u00a0the limelight, like some of the many U.S. politicians Colquhoun has since worked for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And the MP was eager to learn. As part of the study abroad requirements, Colquhoun completed an independent research project on citizenship and immigration, areas\u00a0May professed to know little about. So Colquhoun prepared a three-page memo for May, who was surprised to learn she was a British citizen. May thought Brits were subjects of Her Majesty, even though the laws changed following WW II.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt struck me\u2014oh my gosh, here I am, a 20-year-old American intern telling a British Member of Parliament that she\u2019s a British citizen,\u201d Colquhoun says, laughing. She started to believe change comes so slowly to the UK that people don\u2019t even notice when it happens.<\/p>\n

But change has arrived abruptly now, and the people have noticed. Colquhoun has long worked in political messaging, and believes Brexit supporters were embarrassed to admit the truth to pollsters. That, along with a dose of denial, is why the \u201cRemain\u201d side\u2014made mostly of city dwellers, the media, and public officials\u2014 didn\u2019t mount an aggressive enough campaign.<\/p>\n

When David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister this summer, several members of the Conservative Party put their names in to replace him, but soon only May was left standing. Colquhoun, who returned briefly to work for the MP a second time in 2002, is confident in May\u2019s ability to lead during Brexit. She believes it speaks to May\u2019s integrity that even though she campaigned for the UK to remain, she has nonetheless pledged to follow the will of the people and begin the process of leaving the EU.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cShe thinks when she speaks,\u201d Colquhoun says. \u201cShe\u2019s a successful, coalition-building politician.\u201d Colquhoun, who is taking a break from politics for now to be a stay-at-home mom and part-time mystery shopper, says that recently, friends reminded her that back in 1997
\nshe predicted May would one day become Prime Minister. She doesn\u2019t remember saying it, but like much that happens in politics, it doesn\u2019t surprise her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The prime minister’s former intern reflects on Brexit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":352,"featured_media":1167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[54973,56332],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[87484],"class_list":["post-1099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","category-women-of-goucher"],"yoast_head":"\nLaura McElwain Colquoun \u201999 | Goucher Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/laura-mcelwain-colquoun-99\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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