How a young data scientist left Scotland to help Kamala Harris and Democrats fight Donald Trump

She graduated from a Scottish university with a first class degree in astrophysics just two years ago

Now a young data scientist has left Edinburgh to work in the engine room of the vast political effort to ensure Donald Trump does not get back into the White House.

Over the past week, the Labour Party has been caught up in a row with Mr Trump’s campaign, which accused the party of election interference. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has downplayed the dispute, insisting that staff campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris were volunteers acting in their own time. 

But there are other British nationals working full-time for the Democratic effort to elect Ms Harris. They include data scientist, Olivia Jackson Lambert, who has moved from Edinburgh to the US to secure a post with the Democratic National Committee and has spoken of her experience at the heart of the Democratic campaign ahead of this week’s crunch US election. 

Olivia Jackson Lambert left Scotland with her husband, Alex, to take up a role with the Democratic National Committee. Picture: Contributed | Contributed

Since September, the 25 year-old has been working as a campaign analytics engineer at the DNC, an organisation which coordinates strategy across the US to support the party’s candidates, providing the raw data, tools, and cybersecurity expertise to campaigns throughout the country. Olivia’s role involves poring over vast reams of data in order to get the Democrat message out to the electorate ahead of the key vote on 5 November.

Since leaving Scotland’s capital for the US with her husband, Alex, the experience of being thrown into the deep end of one of the most critical US election campaigns in living memory has opened her eyes to the frenetic nature of American politics,  

“The circus is a lot bigger here, the campaigns go on for a lot longer - I can’t even vote and I’m already getting emails about donating to political parties,” explained Olivia, who graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a first class degree in astrophysics in 2022. “Because I work at the DNC analysing data to target voters, just seeing the amount of data they have, with all these models it can be quite extreme [compared to the UK].”

The University of Edinburgh graduate is working on the Democratic campaign to elect Kamala Harris. Picture: Getty | Getty

With the race almost too tight to call, Olivia said she was at least reassured by the fact that, even if Mr Trump wins re-election, she and her husband live in San Francisco, where the political culture spans the divide between progressives and moderates. 

“It would concern me more if I was in a red [Republican] state and if I didn’t have access to healthcare,” she said. “I'd be much more worried If I had moved to a state like Texas. At that point I’d probably have an exit plan.

“Now I've moved, I’m slightly less concerned about it [a potential Trump victory]. Even though it’s my job, luckily, I live in California which is a very left-wing state. So regardless of whether Trump gets in, I feel like I’ve still got some rights guaranteed, and some insulation from his agenda.”

Simon Hood, executive director of John Mason International Movers, who Olivia used to relocate to the US, said an increasing number of Brits were looking to follow in her footsteps due to the UK economy. “Even if issues such as the potential for Trump being back in office or access to healthcare might put some off, for many, the UK isn’t much better,” he said.