Election candidates bring politics to life for young people at Chichester secondary school

The visit came at the tail end of a school-wide mock election, organised, run and participated in by pupils themselves and which, staff have said, inspired an atmosphere of curiosity and inquiry throughout the school itself.

Students were assigned a political party to represent – regardless of their personal views – and have spent the last few weeks drawing up posters, considering policy and galvanising their supporters in a bid to win.

Candidates from each party were invited to the event, but it was Labour’s Tom Collinge, the Liberal Democrat’s Jessica Brown-Fuller, and the Conservative Party’s Gillian Keegan who arrived, giving students an insight into the daily life of a politician and each party’s approach to issues like education spending, immigration and healthcare.

It was all dreamed up by one year 10 student – Sam – eager to encourage his fellow students to sit up and pay attention to politics. “I’ve always been into politics and I felt, especially since Reform have come to life, that it wasn’t talked about enough at school. People didn’t really know about the policies, they only knew the names of the politicians,” he said. “Without the incredible support of teachers at this school, I don’t think this could have happened at all, and I never thought it would happen on such an extraordinary level.”

The candidates were similarly impressed with the student’s insight and enthusiasm, praising the initiative as proactive way to encourage children to engage with the democratic process. “It was incredible to be in a room with so many engaged young people. A lot of what they might see online might be really negative and divisive, but at the core of what we had today was people from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, saying ‘the best thing you can do is listen and engage and work with people who might have opposing views to you.’” Jessica Brown Fuller said.

Labour’s Tom Collinge added: “The kids are absolutely incredible. The questions they asked, whether pre-prepared or during the discussion, were really informed, really insightful and really intelligent. It’s incredible they’re engaging with democracy.”

Education Secretary and incumbent MP Gillian Keegan echoed comments made by her rival candidates, adding that it was ‘energising’ to see young people engaging with politics in person as well as online: “If you don’t love people, then politics isn’t your business. It’s so energising, I really get my energy from doing all of this and seeing how much of a difference it’s making.”

For the school, which is working hard to secure four several acres of adjacent land as well as £1 million of funding to turn it into sports facilities, the event was a marked success. “It’s about giving students a very interactive opportunity to properly engage with democracy and explore ideas on which, in not many years time, they’ll be able to vote on themselves,” said Executive Principle Louise New.