The Mock Election- By Eleanor Croston, Parmiter’s School

After being allocated their parties, the students began to kick-start their campaign process and handpick their election promises. Each party had to produce (as part of their campaign) a poster, two minute video (to be shown in form times) and a speech which provided information on their three recent party policies they were advocating for. The speech had to be delivered by the elected MP candidate of each party at the hustings, as a means of promoting and gaining support from the student body for their party and cause. 

The Hustings were an important way of increasing participation from the student body. It allowed for the students to pose direct questions at the candidates, which in turn boosted their engagement with the political process, and it allowed for the different parties to quiz each other on their promises. Creating immense competition and providing for entertaining viewing, as the Conservatives got grilled, Labour dodged questions and Reform UK provided knowledgeable and insightful answers. When speaking to George Hawes, MP candidate for the Liberal Democrats he commented that “not only are the hustings important for not only encouraging young people to learn about the parties and their policies but also to help them understand political behaviour.”.

Once the major campaign process was finished the school began to cast their votes and the parties anxiously waited for the results. Despite being nervous, the politics students immensely enjoyed the process, with George Hawes commenting “it was a fun, interesting and exciting process.”. Then came the results… with an unexpected victory from Reform UK! A change from the usual victory from either the Greens or the Liberal Democrats. The final results were from most votes to least) Reform UK, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green and Conservative. So for the remainder of the academic year, Parmiter’s leading politicians are from Reform.