Jobs for young people, the NHS and political party funding were just some of the hot topics for the College’s Politics students, who quizzed local Green and Reform party representatives in a head-to-head debate in the lead up to the local elections on May 7.
Politics Society President Hammam Elbasir facilitated the Q&A and explained, “We felt we already knew lots about the major parties and so were keen to focus specifically on the Green and Reform parties to better understand what the current national shift away from major parties means in practice.
“I’m delighted with how the event went – our student community is great. They brought an amazing vibe and had loads of questions. I’m just sad we didn’t have time for all of them to be answered.”
Fellow Politics Society member Jake Fawbert said, “With around 120 students attending, it was a fantastic turnout, and they asked some truly hard-hitting questions.”
Politics teacher John Sangster added, “Emerging and minor (third) parties are a key topic on the Politics A Level syllabus. Events like this really bring these issues to life and help students deepen their curriculum learning. It’s great to see so many of our young people showing such interest and enthusiasm for engaging in issues at both the national and local level.”
The event follows hot on the heels of March’s Politics trip to the Houses of Parliament where students quizzed Rebecca Paul MP and December’s PolEcon conference, featuring all the main parties. The College also has a long tradition of hosting General Election hustings to further engage young people in exercising their democratic rights.
Thank you to local Green Party Leader Jonathan Essex and local Reform UK candidates Johnny Wolf and Karolina Wolf for engaging with our students in this lively forum.
