The General Election may have come early, but students were not caught on the hop, using a hustings event at Brentwood School to engage with four of the party candidates in the Brentwood & Ongar constituency. The students' questions were considered and well thought out, reflecting their keen interest in the political process.
Following their two-minute opening statements, candidates were held to task by students, many of whom would be voting for the first time, on issues ranging from uncontrolled immigration, how to broker peace in Gaza, special needs provision, the NHS and VAT on independent school fees.
Questions from the floor saw candidates asked what they regarded as the biggest challenges facing Britain, Council Tax anomalies, empty High Street units and the candidates' first actions to improve Brentwood and Ongar if elected.
Sixth Formers from Brentwood School were joined by students from a number of other local schools for the wide-ranging debate, chaired by History Teacher Dr Eleanor Lowe, in the School’s Wessex Auditorium.
The four who took part were Alex Burghart, seeking re-election as the constituency’s Conservative MP; Labour’s Gareth Barrett, who grew up in Brentwood and attended local schools; Liberal Democrat David Kendall, who has been a Brentwood Borough Councillor for over 32 years, and Paul Godfrey, Reform UK, who is also Brentwood based.
During their summations, there was, however, one issue candidates did agree on, and that was the importance of actively participating in democracy and they urged all those eligible to vote to ensure they did so.
Also standing in the Brentwood & Ongar constituency is RJ Learmouth, representing the Green Party, and Robin Tilbrook, the English Democrats.
.jpg&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Student Inspires Generation of Female Chemists")
