I make the laws! Love Island star in No 10
WitH an instagram profile full of pictures of her posing provocatively in an array of skimpy swimwear, she doesn’t look like your typical government policy adviser.
But civil servant turned Love island star Zara McDermott has boasted that she ‘makes the laws’ – and even has a selfie inside no 10 to prove it.
the 21-year-old is understood to work as a junior member of the policy team advising education secretary Damian Hinds, and has taken an unpaid career break to compete in the tawdry reality show.
the glamorous brunette has been branded a ‘rising star’ of the civil service, having undergone a two-year apprenticeship after finishing her A- levels and joining the Department of energy.
On her Linkedin page, Miss McDermott claims she developed policies, dealt with parliamentary questions and briefed ministers. she has been working at the Department for education for eight months.
in April 2016, Miss McDermott posted a picture of herself inside no 10 on instagram, captioned: ‘My office for the day. My job is better than yours.’
the former model, who lives with her parents in essex, attended the coopers’ company and coborn school, a well-performing academy in Upminster, east London, and gained two As and a B at A-level.
Arriving on the itV2 show, she told her fellow contestants she ‘ works in the government’.
When asked if she was responsible for making laws, she replied ‘yeah, in essence’. she is appearing on the show after being granted an unpaid career break by the Dfe in line with civil service rules, which state civil servants can have a career break of between three months and two years.
it is thought Dfe bosses might not necessarily have known she wanted the break in order to appear on Love island.
While the show’s controversial nature may raise eyebrows among Miss McDermott’s employers, her mother Karen insisted she was proud of her. speaking about her ‘very academic’ daughter, Mrs McDermott, 56, added: ‘We’re behind her 100 per cent. she obviously spoke to us when she was first talking to the show and said she wouldn’t do it if we didn’t want her to.
‘We told her to enjoy it and have the best experience of her life. We hope she finds her man.’ she said daughter ‘loves her job’ and is ‘passionate about making a difference’. All civil servants must uphold the civil service code – which says workers must show integrity and professionalism while away from government – while on a career break. if these terms were broken, human resources would be notified and would launch an investigation.
However, workers who keep to the terms may return to work as normal.