Politics students quiz local councillor

First year Politics A-Level students at East Sussex College Lewes engaged in a virtual meeting with Councillor Dr Wendy Maples earlier this month, and had the opportunity to get their hard thought questions answered.

This exciting initiative was organised by The Politics Project, who are a non-partisan democratic education organisation. They specialise in supporting young people and political figures to have meaningful and important conversations, in order to force positive change in communities.

According to The Politics Project’s official website, just 47% of 18–25-year-olds voted in the 2019 general election (compared with 75% of 65 years+) and only 7% of young people engage with a politician during their time at school. This demonstrates the pressing need to get young people more involved in politics.

The College’s shared view on student engagement in politics meant there came to be an opportunity for students to fire questions at Lewes Council’s Dr Wendy Maples. ‘If you had three political wishes, what would they be?’, was just one of several fantastic questions from the College’s Politics students.

"If you had 3 political wishes, what would they be?" Just one of several fantastic questions from @WeAreESCG students for Cllr @WendyMaples. Thank you to both for a great #DigitalSurgery. pic.twitter.com/3QNMPyx1Kq

— The Politics Project (@PoliticsProject) February 1, 2022

Politics lecturer, Jeff Hobbs, was thrilled with the students' efforts and involvement in the virtual call and said, “Our first year students were fantastic! I was very impressed with the way they engaged with Wendy. They asked perceptive and interesting questions. Their questions covered everything from the pandemic, to what is happening in the Ukraine, to lockdown parties at No. 10!”

He added, “It's very important that young people engage with political figures like Wendy. As a result of these kinds of meetings, students realise that they are real human beings making these sometimes difficult decisions. The students were impressed with Wendy and enjoyed talking to her.”

If you’d like to find out more about studying A-Level Politics at East Sussex College, then please visit our website by clicking here.