Politics Conference: Controversy and Clapping

On Monday 4^th December our A Level Politics students enjoyed a trip to London to hear from an impressive line-up of politicians.

The annual Politics Conference is held in the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, and the event is always a sell-out, filled with ‘big name’ politicians and opportunities for students to ask them questions after their talks.  Having had a four year break due to Covid we are delighted to have been able to take our students once more to this brilliant event. With all that has happened in the last four years, the politicians were expecting to face a tough crowd of around 2,000 students from across the country!

Led by Head of Politics, Richard Duckett, our Sixth Formers were treated to speeches from well-known figures including Jess Philips, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Liberal Democrats leader, Ed Davey, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Westminster SNP, Stephen Flynn, and Lord Dodd.

In an addition to the official line-up, Sian Berry of the Green Party spoke to the Sixth Formers, offering some excellent insights into how the Greens, as a minor party, have been able to impact upon the running of the London Assembly.

Richard commented, “The person who most lifted the roof had to be Jacob Rees-Mogg, met with a deluge of howls and boos simultaneously with some enthusiastic clapping.  What a crowd pleaser!  It was a packed day, with barely any time for lunch, but the Lower Sixth students are revved up to go again next year – assuming I can get tickets again!  They go quicker than hot cakes!”

Will (Upper Sixth) reflected, “We all had a fabulous time at the conference. It was especially interesting hearing talks from big-name politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn and Jacob Rees-Mogg and hear their takes on human rights and the upcoming general election. Hearing such different views was especially interesting in the context of our A Level course and gave us insight into how the top four parties are approaching politics in the next year. Some politicians, such as Stephen Flynn (Leader of SNP at Westminster), were incredibly down-to-earth which was a surprising contrast to the usual jargon of British politics.”