On Wednesday 8th November 2023, Year 12 students across the London Borough Of Merton were given the opportunity to take part in a politics conference supported by Team Global, a charity which ‘aims to enable young people to act as global citizens and to aspire to leadership roles within their communities.’  The conference was held at Ursuline High School in Wimbledon and began sharply at 9:15 with an introduction by the Headteacher. Quickly followed by session 1: The view from Westminster, a panel discussion with local MPs, Stephen Hammond, Conservative MP for Wimbledon, Siobhan McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden and Munira Wilson Lib-Dem MP for Twickenham. Each MP, spoke about their achievements in improving their boroughs, and emphasised on the importance of voting, especially for younger people as our voices are often lost, in the vast scale of politics.

Session two began promptly, with Mike Bankole a Doctoral Researcher, who gave an interesting talk on race and representation in politics, which was truly inspiring and allowed as all to reflect upon the importance on why representation matters, especially in politics.

We then had a break at 11am, which allowed us to consolidate our learning, but also get a chance to speak to the members of team global as well as other speakers at the conference I thought it was particularly interesting how Siobhan McDonagh was been serving the constituency she was born in for 25 years!

Session 3, began with Sheri-Ann Bhim who represents the Graveney Ward as a Labour party Merton Councillor, but also a past student of Ursuline, which was inspiring for students at Ursuline knowing what role she plays in politics. Miss Bhim spoke to us about what it means to be a councillor and the roles she takes on, from providing environmental services to housing. We were also told about the wider variety of career opportunities regarding politics such as working as a policy maker or working for the civil service. This piece of information was extremely helpful especially for us year 12 students who are thinking about a career in politics. Miss Bhim’s speech was followed by Hina Bokhari who works for the London Assembly, Hina spoke to us about the role she plays In improving London, not just in politics but working with the London mayor to improve transport and services that Londoner’s use on a day to day basis. Us students particularly enjoyed this talk as we were able to ask about current policies in place like the ULEZ scheme and how it works.

As the day of fun filled, engaging conversations drew to a close, we ended with a bang! As Dr Clark McGinn and Mr Daniele Scanio began a fiery debate on whether the voting age should be lowered, it sparked our own points, in which we engaged and shared with everyone involved with the conference. The majority overruled that the voting age should be lowered to 16 years of age!

This politics conference allowed us to really gain a further understanding of the inner workings of politics and truly how important it is as young people, to make sure we vote, and stay engaged with current affairs so we can get our voices heard.