The youngest among an assembly of lawmakers was not too happy when asked about his experience for the job.
The showdown occurred during an interview of the United Kingdom’s new 22-year-old Labour MP, Sam Carling, on Sunday.
The Labour Party is one of the left-wing parties making up Parliament.
Carling was asked about his experience while talking with hosts on the BBC morning program, “BBC Breakfast.”
Host Roger Johnson first broached the new lawmaker’s experience, or lack thereof.
“One of the criticisms of MPs is that many of them don’t have real world experience,” Johnson said. “At 22, can you really offer real world experience and — to bring that to the House of Commons?”
Carling asserted that he not only has experience, but it’s a type many of the other lawmakers simply don’t have.
“I have a lot of experience that older members of Parliament won’t,” Carling said.
“I’ve been renting insecure housing in the private sector for quite a while now, and that’s an issue facing not just young people but people all across the age spectrum, and it’s something that I intend to do a lot of work on now that I’m in Parliament.
Should lawmakers have experience?
“I always get a little bit frustrated when people mention life experience,” he continued, “because no one has yet been able to explain to me why being older makes you better at the job.”
Johnson was quick with an answer.
“Well you’ve got more experience, I think that’s why,” the host said.
Carling refused to back off his point, instead questioning “what kind of experience” Johnson was asking about.
“By definition over the years you gain more experience, isn’t it?” Johnson said.
Carling laughed, saying the two were “going around in circles” in the interview.
Carling continued to insist that he has experience at levels his older fellow MPs simply do not have.
“As I’ve said before, I’ve had a lot of experiences that lots of older MPs won’t have had,” Carling said. “I’ve done quite a lot for my age, as well. I’ve been a councilor for a couple of years and a cabinet member responsible for about 17 million pounds of public money over the last year.
“I’ve been a trustee of a university, and I’ve done a lot of other things that perhaps wouldn’t necessarily be typical of someone my age.”
Watch Carling’s interview below.
‘No one has yet been able to explain to me why being older makes you better at the job’
22-year-old Sam Carling has been elected as a Labour MP for North West Cambridgeshire and spoke to #BBCBreakfast about being the youngest politician in the House of Commons… pic.twitter.com/DRqqK6HHRy
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) July 7, 2024
While Carling’s experience is still in question, his confidence is not.
If a couple years’ worth of renting experience is what it takes to turn around the decline of Britannia, it seems this young lawmaker is set to be the next King Arthur.
