Gill Lee, who was Secretary and Office Manager for Sir David Amess, was awarded two Parliamentary People Awards in a ceremony held at the Speaker’s Apartments in the Palace of Westminster. Mrs Lee, who has been in Parliamentary service for nearly ten years, was awarded best staffer for Central England and the Open Reach Award for overall best staffer.
The awards ceremony was attended by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and the Lord Speaker, Lord McFall of Alcluith. Mrs Lee was accompanied by Sir David’s successor, Anna Firth MP for whom she now works and who was delighted to see Mrs Lee’s hard work for Sir David officially recognised.
Speaking after the event, Mrs Lee said “I am incredibly pleased and humbled to have won these awards today. Sir David was a tireless campaigner for our city of Southend and these awards have to reflect his own legacy so I would like to accept these awards as a tribute to him and his service to Southend. I know that if he were still with us today, he would be thrilled – not least because he always enjoyed seeing the Speaker’s apartments! Of course, working for Sir David wasn’t always easy. It came with a wide and unexpected variety of responsibilities such as office wildlife management for our little entourage of animals which at its height included five birds, two turtles, a crab and numerous fish!”
Anna Firth added: “There is no more deserving a person than Gill to have received two awards at the immensely special ceremony last night. Sir David absolutely relied on her and, though I haven’t been here as long as him, I can see that I will too. Congratulations Gill!”
