Sixth Form Politics students attend Pre-Election Conference

---

All Sixth form Politics students attended a Pre-Election conference on Monday 8 March in London. Nine guest speakers had been invited to speak to over 500 students, representing a variety of political opinions. 

The students heard from Sir Alan Duncan and Damian Green (Conservative), Lembek Opik and Simon Hughes (Lib Dem), and Frank Dobson and David Blunkett (Labour). They all expressed their party’s views on the key issues that will dominate the upcoming General Election (6 May we were confidently informed).

Each MP was also questioned from the floor, many students showing admirable knowledge and confidence in challenging such senior political figures. Lastly, we also heard from George Galloway (Respect), the charismatic MP who was expelled from the Labour Party in 2004; Howell Williams, giving us a regional perspective as one of only 3 Plaid Cymru MP’s at Westminster; and John Bercow, the Speaker of the House, who spoke about his desire to make Parliament more transparent, but also more powerful in relation to the government.
 
While a gruelling and intense day, the 21 Politics students were left in no doubt as to the importance of participating in the electoral process.