Liverpool politicians were quizzed by students from The City of Liverpool College, when they were put on the spot to discuss their plans for the forthcoming election and policies affecting young people and education.

Stephen Twigg Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, Steve Rotherham Labour MP for Walton, Louise Ellman MP for Liverpool Riverside and Cllrs Gary Millar (former Lord Mayor of Liverpool and Cabinet Member for Business, Enterprise and Investment) and Liam Robinson (Chair of Merseytravel) took part in a ‘Question Time’ event to meet students and discuss post election plans for education and employment if they win the General Election.

Students quizzed the politicians about their party’s future plans for the Liverpool City Region and the UK as a whole, to find out how these plans will affect them, asking questions about education funding, jobs and investment across the region.

Elaine Bowker, Principal of The City of Liverpool College, introduced the event and it was chaired by Downtown In Business Chief Executive, Frank McKenna.

Elaine said:

“As many as 800,000 young adults have lost the right to vote by not adding their names to the electoral register. However, it is vital that politics and the decisions being made in Westminster and here in Liverpool reflect their views.

“As the only general further education college in Liverpool, we have held this event with Liverpool politicians in order to promote two-way conversation between the young people and their elected representatives and, as a result, we hope to encourage more young people to exercise their right to vote and ensure their opinions are heard.”

On behalf of the Association of Colleges (AoC), of which The Cty of Liverpool College is a member, Elaine also handed the MPs a copy of AoC’s Manifesto 2015, which lays out 10 recommendations for the next Government in order to ensure that further education and most importantly their students can thrive and succeed.