Sixth Form boys studying A-Level politics took part in a mock election this week to give them an insight into what it might be like to experience a real election and count. This hands-on lesson helped the boys to understand the electoral process, the structure of our government and the importance of being involved and making their voices heard.
The exercise saw some boys choosing to stand as candidates in the election. They were required to generate an election campaign, which involved creating a manifesto, producing leaflets and posters, outlining policy areas and reasons to vote for them, and delivering speeches in a special election assembly. An authentic ‘hustings’ style meeting was also held to give all boys the opportunity to question each candidate on a range of different areas. This year, the candidates were asked questions on the environment, cost-of-living crisis, energy crisis and support for Ukraine.
Polling day was held on 1 December, a Thursday, in line with UK electoral tradition.
The election count and mock ‘Electoral Commission’ was provided by Lower Sixth Politics Students currently studying electoral systems for their Politics A-Level. The election used three of the electoral systems they have studied and, after the count, the boys scrutinised each system to see whether it would impact on the results. These were:
- First Past the Post (7 x House Constituencies)
- Supplementary Vote (7 x House Constituencies)
- Single Transferable Vote (1 x School constituency, 7 seats)
Upper Sixth Former James Wootton Evans, who ran as the Labour candidate explained that his biggest learning from the exercise was discovering that “trying to please and gain the support of a wide range of people is much harder than I had thought, which is something politicians have to do and create ways to do so to please everyone and gain their vote.”
The election was led by History and Politics Teacher, Mr Henry Vann, who as an active respective local councillor has had first-hand experience of standing as a candidate and being part of an election and count.
Upper Sixth Former Tom Hayward said, “Mr Vann was really helpful during the process, having had extensive electoral experience and understanding he was able to make it as realistic as possible. He provided a strong insight into the practicalities of an election process.”
The count will take place tomorrow afternoon – watch this space for the results!