Y-Vote Mock Elections taking place in schools this week! - May 4th, 2010

Y-Vote Mock Elections taking place in schools this week!

http://www.mockelections.co.uk/

After weeks of election campaigning, hustings, opinion polls and political discussion, over 400 schools and nearly 20,000 young people will finally get their long-awaited chance to vote in the Hansard Society's Y-Vote Mock Elections on Thursday May 6. Many schools in your area are eager to show off their activities to journalists on Thursday.

In the lead-up to Thursday's General Election, schools the length and breadth of the United Kingdom have been undertaking their very own mock election campaigns.  There have been in-school opinion polls, assembly time ‘leaders' debates' and hustings, but the big event - the Mock Election itself - will be taking place in schools across the country on Thursday May 6.

This is an opportunity for young people who are not able to vote in the General Election to get a taste of how democracy works, to engage in politics and the issues that affect their lives, and give them the tools and the enthusiasm to participate in the democratic process. Hansard Society Y-Vote Mock Elections actively engage students in politics by giving them the opportunity to stand as party candidates, speech writers and canvassers in a mock election.

The Hansard Society's Director of Citizenship Education, Michael Raftery said:

It's great to see so many young people taking such a creative interest in the General Election - the imagination and enthusiasm of the candidates' election strategies would put many of their adult counterparts to shame!  It just shows how activities like the Y-Vote Mock Elections can help the election come alive in schools.

For more information and details of schools in your area, contact Ben Blackburn on 020 7438 1216 / hans_admin@hansard.lse.ac.uk or Kate Egglestone on 020 7438 1210 / k.egglestone@hansard.lse.ac.uk

Editors' Notes

• The Hansard Society's Citizenship Education Programme works with young people through schools and colleges to educate and inform them about parliamentary democracy and develop innovative ways to involve them in participatory democratic activities.