23 April 2010
The Abingdon School Mock Election is being held on Thursday, 6th May, the same day the rest of the country goes to the polls to cast their vote.
Today, the leaders of the seven parties standing in the Mock Election faced voters for the first time in the campaign. In a similar manner to the television debates which have had such a dramatic impact on the General Election, each leader made an opening statement, before facing a series of questions from the floor on a wide range of topics including the economy, defence spending, immigration, education, the Olympics, child obesity and pot holes in the roads.
The candidates had clearly done their research and were able to give serious answers to the various questions that arose. As expected there were also some flashes of humour, particularly from Stephen Poland (Monster Raving Loony), who proposed painting the nation’s fighter jets purple and yellow. Perhaps the most radical suggestion came from Alex Carver (Jury Team), who proposed cutting child obesity through a mass programme of liposuction and using the extracted fat to fill in pot holes.
Geoff Penington (Liberal Democrats), argued strongly for a change to the voting system, straying slightly from the official party line in preferring Alterative Vote rather than Proportional Representation. Oliver Todd and Alex Davis (Conservatives) clashed with Alec Burt, James Wilson and Tom Lowenthal (Labour) over tax amongst other issues. Tommy Pritchard (UK Independence Party) was vocal in his condemnation of Europe.
The candidates will be making appearances in various assemblies over the next two weeks as well as campaigning hard in and around school.
SWB
