Blog

2019 Mock Elections: Higher turnout and different outcome than the real general election

7 Jan 2020
School pupils in an assembly with their hands up

Schools making up an ‘electorate’ of over 46,000 young people returned their results to the Hansard Society's 2019 Mock Elections, which were held to coincide with the December general election and continued a series extending back over 50 years. Labour emerged as the clear 'winner' of the 2019 mock poll.

Dr Brigid Fowler, Senior Researcher, Hansard Society
,
Senior Researcher, Hansard Society

Dr Brigid Fowler

Dr Brigid Fowler
Senior Researcher, Hansard Society

Brigid joined the Hansard Society in December 2016 to lead its work on Parliament and Brexit, as well as contribute to its ongoing research on the legislative process, parliamentary procedure and scrutiny, and public political engagement. From 2007 to 2014 she was a Committee Specialist for the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, where she led on the Committee’s EU-related work. In the first six months of 2016 she was on the research team of Britain Stronger in Europe. She has also worked as assistant to an MEP in Brussels and as an analyst and researcher on EU and European affairs in the private sector and at the University of Birmingham and King’s College London.

After completing BA and MPhil degrees at the University of Oxford in PPE and European Politics, respectively, she spent the first part of her career focusing on the politics of post-communist transition and EU accession in Central Europe, and completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham on the case of Hungary. She has given media comment, appeared before select committees and published several journal articles and book contributions.

Get our latest research, insights and events delivered to your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter

We will never share your data with any third-parties.

Share this and support our work

‘Turnout’ across the participating schools was 72% – higher than the 67% figure for the real general election, and representing over 30,000 young people casting their vote.

The results differed markedly from the real general election outcome:

  • Labour emerged as the clear winner, with a 33.9% vote share.

  • The Liberal Democrats came second, with 20.5%.

  • The Conservatives were third, with 18.7%.

  • The Green Party was fourth, with 15.6%.

(The figures in this post differ marginally from those we announced on 12 December, owing to a number of schools submitting their results after the deadline for inclusion in the announcement on the evening of the general election.)

Across the participating schools, roughly equal numbers of candidates (between 55 and 59) stood for each of these four leading parties. Thirty-two candidates stood for the Brexit Party, which came fifth with 3.5% of the vote.

In total, over 300 pupils and students stood as candidates.

Forty-nine stood as candidates for made-up parties, as independents, or as candidates for parties falling outside the best-placed five, including the Pirate Party, Plaid Cymru, the SNP, UKIP and the Women's Equality Party. Of the made-up parties, several evidenced environmental priorities (the Save our World Party, the Exit Plastic Party), and others suggested local school-level concerns (the More Outside and Inside Equipment Party).

In Northumberland, Ponteland High's Mock Election was covered by ITV News Tyne Tees:

Meanwhile, Seaford College in Sussex made a video of its Mock Election and saw its poll covered in the local press.

Many other participating schools and teachers also shared images of their Mock Elections on social media:

One of the oldest and largest civic education projects anywhere in the world, Mock Elections has been run by the Hansard Society at every UK general election for over 50 years.

In 2019, the Society again made available a free download of all the resources teachers and pupils needed to run a mock poll.

Research has shown that participating in citizenship-related activities at school, such as mock elections, makes young people more likely to have positive attitudes towards political participation as adults and more likely to engage in political activity. This applies even when controlling for other relevant factors, such as higher levels of formal education.

Several candidates in the real 2019 general election, as well as former MPs and other prominent political figures, participated in mock elections when they were at school and were inspired to go on to Westminster.

News / 101 resolutions and a Finance Bill. How the Budget becomes law - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 117

It’s Budget week, so we look at what happens after the Chancellor sits down and how the days announcements are converted into the Finance Bill. We speak to Lord Ricketts, Chair of the European Affairs Committee, about whether Parliament is prepared to scrutinise the “dynamic alignment” with EU laws that may emerge from the Government’s reset with Brussels. And we explore the latest twists in the assisted dying bill story, where a marathon battle is looming in the New Year after the Government allocated 10 additional Friday sittings for its scrutiny. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

28 Nov 2025
Read more

Publications / Budget 2025: Letter to Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds MP calling for an ‘Amendment of the Law’ motion

The form of the first Ways and Means motion tabled after the Budget – either an Amendment of the Law motion or an Income Tax (Charge) motion – determines how much scope MPs have to propose amendments when the Budget is translated into the Finance Bill. An Amendment of the Law motion provides broader scope for amendment and was standard practice until it was unilaterally dropped by the then Government in 2017. We have written to the Chief Whip urging the restoration of this procedural practice so that MPs can properly fulfil their constitutional responsibility to scrutinise the nation’s finances and ensure that consideration of the Finance Bill is a genuinely political debate, not merely a technical exercise.

24 Nov 2025
Read more

News / Is the House of Lords going slow on the assisted dying bill? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 116

In this episode we look at the latest Covid Inquiry report addressing the lack of parliamentary scrutiny during the pandemic and the need for a better system for emergency law-making. With the Budget approaching, we explore how the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, might discipline ministers who announce policies outside Parliament and why a little-known motion could restrict debate on the Finance Bill. Sir David Beamish assesses whether the flood of amendments to the assisted dying bill risks a filibuster and raises constitutional questions. Finally, we hear from Marsha de Cordova MP and Sandro Gozi MEP on their work to reset UK–EU relations through the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

22 Nov 2025
Read more

Blog / The assisted dying bill: Is the number of Lords amendments a parliamentary record?

The assisted dying bill has attracted an extraordinary number of amendments in the House of Lords, prompting questions about whether the volume is unprecedented. This blog examines how its amendment count compares with other bills in the current Session, and what the historical data shows about previous amendment-heavy legislation.

20 Nov 2025
Read more

Blog / The assisted dying bill: Will it run out of time? The parliamentary options explained

Over 1,000 amendments have been tabled to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Lords. This blog examines the progress of the Bill at Committee Stage in the House of Lords so far, explores the likelihood of a procedural impasse and what options exist if more parliamentary time is needed.

20 Nov 2025
Read more