A market town’s high school was treated to an early hustings event ahead of a general election being held by the end of the year.
Pupils at Fakenham Academy and sixth form took part in the political event, which featured participants from four parties.
It saw Jerome Mayhew, the Conservative MP for Broadland, alongside Jan Davis, the Broadland Green Party candidate, Steffan Aquarone, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for North Norfolk and Irene Macdonald, representing the Labour Party, taking part.
The students asked questions ranging from key national issues such as Home Office flights to Rwanda and concerns over the cost of living crisis to questions of a more local nature regarding proposed investment in Fakenham Town, and how the issue of the “Tattersett Tyre Mountain” was resolved by the local MP and Norfolk County Council working together.
Laura Marshall-Smith, assistant head and head of sixth form said: “The hustings proved to be an excellent opportunity for the sixth form and I am sure gave the students sharp focus to our student council elections.”
The event was part of the school’s program to get young people in Fakenham more involved in politics and was hosted by the head of Sapientia Trust, Jonathon Taylor.
Walter, a sixth form student at the academy, said: “It was interesting to hear what each candidate had to say about investment in Fakenham, hopefully, we will see their ideas come to pass as the year progresses.”
The school has held similar husting events in the past.
Gavin Green, the academy's headteacher, confirmed that once the general election is announced, he will be inviting all candidates back to the school for a future hustings, and the school has other events in its politics programme planned by the sixth form team.
Fakenham Academy joined the Sapientia Education Trust in 2020.
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