British intern claims quick, flickering wit

Forget Congress. Roger Cawthorne’s dream job is to become a member of England’s parliament, and the 21-year-old intern in Rep. Thelma Drake’s (R-Va.) office is not far off target. Cawthorne, a native of Warrington, England, worked as an intern at the House of Commons last semester.

His Hill internship is part of an exchange program with Catholic University and Cawthorne’s school in England, the University of Leeds.

He is amazed by how polarizing Congress is and how it seems like it is every man for himself. Parliament, he said, is more of a team venture.

Despite Cawthorne’s lack of congressional ambition, he has thoroughly enjoyed his experience on Capitol Hill — unlike a fellow intern he knows.

An English friend of Cawthorne’s was interning in another member’s office, doing similar tasks, when he was asked to cease answering the phones. Constituents, it turned out, had been complaining about a British voice answering their American representative’s phone.

Cawthorne has had the opposite experience, with Drake even receiving cards from constituents thanking her for their wonderful Capitol tours provided by Hawthorne.

Constituents always get a chuckle when they get to the Rotunda and have Cawthorne describing the painting of the British surrendering to American troops in 1781.

One reason Cawthorne thinks he’d be good in Parliament is that he’s able to think on his feet with a quick, flickering wit. He plans on taking a second debating class next year, but just to remain sharp he and Drake’s staff verbally joust daily.

“They joke that they’re going to come burn down Parliament,” he said, referring to the British attempt to burn down the Capitol in 1814.