School election 'candidates' met one of the real parliamentary candidates

Strand on the Green Junior School held an election this week to inform pupils about how the democratic process works.

The four political parties represented were the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

Six children were elected to lead these parties and have been hard on the campaign trail over the last few weeks, creating posters and writing and presenting speeches to their peers.

While they were preparing for a debate on the 11th December, the rest of the school discussed the importance of registering to vote. Six other members of Year 6 were tasked with registering every child, to ensure they were
eligible to vote.

The whole school attended to watch the lively debate, deepening everybody’s understanding of the main issues affecting the UK today. This gave the children time to reflect on the policies they felt were most important to them.

Finally, on election day the gym was transformed to a polling
station, much to the confusion of the general public, who were
looking for the real polling station next door!

The Returning Officers were on hand to instruct the children and adults on
how to cast their vote. 362 votes and 1 spoilt ballot later, the
result was incredibly close! The victorious party for the constituency of Strand on the Green was the Liberal Democrats, represented by Amelie. Regardless of the general public’s decision, it has been fantastic to see so many young people engaging with democracy

Daisy (11) and Tallulah (10) were standing for the Labour Party.

In a coincidence, when they came out of school they came face to face with the real Labour Party parliamentary candidate Ruth Cadbury, who was canvassing in the area.

The girls took the opportunity to have a chat and ask for some tips.

While the children have to wait a few more years before they can cast their ballot, they all enjoyed learning about how elections and the democratic process work.

Since this story was written Ruth Cadbury has been re-elected.

December 13, 2019