With a General Election on the horizon, students at Eaton Bank Sixth Form in Congleton invited local politicians to their school to tell them more about their political party, what politicians can do about things that matter to young people and why voting is so important.
Around 140 year 12 and 13 students from the school quizzed the politicians at a Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) session organised by Head of Year 12 Stephen Jenkins. Local politicians who put themselves in the hot seat were Cllr Arabella Holland (Conservative), Cllr Suzy Firkin (Liberal Democrat), Cllr Kay Wesley (Women’s Equality Party) and Sarah Russell (Chair of the local Labour Party). An independent councillor was also due to join the session, but couldn’t attend for health reasons. The Deputy Chief Officer at Congleton Town Council, Jackie MacArthur, introduced the session.
The students, some of whom were already registered to vote, quizzed the councillors on the state of roads, the cost of living crisis, energy and housing. They also learnt more about what motivated each of the politicians to get involved in politics and their choice of party.
Teacher Stephen Jenkins said: “I would like to thank the local politicians for putting themselves forward to be quizzed by our students. It was an interesting and informative session and great to see how respectful of each other politicians are at a local level!”
The party representatives spent an additional 30 minutes answering questions at the end of the session and were delighted with the interest expressed by the next generation of voters and potentially councillors.
