Annual Visit to Houses of Parliament
Mr R. Hobson, Subject Leader: Politics, writes:
On Monday 30th October, the government and politics department went on their annual visit to the Houses of Parliament. Students enjoyed a tour of parliament, including Westminster Hall, a number of committee rooms and the central lobby. Unfortunately, our timing was such that we weren’t able to visit the commons and lords chambers on this occasion however we did have the pleasure of a very warm welcome from Speaker of the House; John Bercow, who we saw during the speaker’s procession.
After our tour of Westminster, we enjoyed a workshop on the democratic process in which the flaws and benefits of the ‘First Past the Post’ electoral system were demonstrated through an interactive activity. Students answered questions and ran for election, representing various different political parties. Elections were run using different electoral systems to demonstrate how the system can often influence the result. Students thoroughly enjoyed their day in the surroundings of Westminster, they even got a glimpse of Lord Sugar’s Bentley.