Politics means prizes!

MP encourages schools to enter political competitions

1.11.04

Local Liberal Democrat MP Edward Davey has written to secondary schools across his constituency to urge them to take part in two competitions that are designed to get school children thinking about politics from an early age.

This comes shortly after Edward Davey took part in online surgeries run by the Hansard Society, which are designed to put school children in touch with their locally elected members. These new competitions encourage students to write a political letter or article and to set up and film a mock-Parliament, and are run by the Parliamentary Press Gallery and the Citizenship Foundation respectively.

Commenting, Edward Davey MP said,

"It is so important to get students thinking about politics. Political decisions will shape their lives, so they need to know how to shape political decisions.

"I am hoping these competitions will create a valuable new dimension in getting young people involved in politics. The Adam Smith Institute found in 2000 that only 60 per cent of 18-24 year olds say they are registered to vote, as against 92 per cent for the population at large.

"By establishing a better dialogue between students and politicians we can look to reverse the tide of voter apathy in young people, helping them to appreciate the importance of their vote.

"We cannot afford to alienate the next generation of potential voters from politics."