Young People’s General Election: Potter, Pudsey or Peppa Pig for PM?
We’re really excited to announce the result of the first week of our Young People’s General Election!
In classrooms across the UK, 5,220 pupils used our class meeting tool to run a pupil-led classroom debate discussing either:
Which character would you vote for to be Prime Minister?
Do politicians care what young people think?
Question 1: Which character would you vote for to be PM?
Result: Harry Potter for PM!
Involving 3,300 pupils in primary and SEN schools, it’s a big win for Harry Potter with 34% of the vote! We were expecting a strong showing for Matilda Wormwood, but she’s in second place tied with Pudsey.
Only 5% of votes went to Winnie the Pooh. Too lazy? Too easily bribed with honey?
It’s great to involve so many pupils in discussions about the characteristics of a good leader.
Could our political leaders benefit from magic powers in the coming months? We'll leave that one up to you….
Question 2: Do politicians care what young people think?
Result: 50% of young people say ‘no’
Involving 1,920 secondary pupils in six schools, the result doesn’t paint a positive picture. Half of the young people involved believe that politicians don’t care what they think.
And only 3% said yes! But would the result be any different if we asked adults? We’re not so sure!
About the Young People’s General Election 2019
Every week from now until the election, we’re asking young people to discuss, debate on vote on different questions related to the General Election. Primary and secondary-focused questions cover everything from the latest developments on the campaign trail to what young people think should be in the perfect manifesto.
On each Friday, we’re publishing the results on our blog. If you want to give this week’s questions a go in your class, click below:
Check out Educate GE
EducateGE is a collaboration between 24 democratic engagement organisations who have come together to support schools and educators to engage young people in the 2019 General Election.
We have put all of our support in one place to make it easy to view, download and access content. All of our resources are free, non-partisan and have been designed to be classroom-ready.