Young people are often forgotten at elections, so a big thank you to Livewire for holding a youth-only hustings in order for the candidates to answer questions put to them by young people in the constituency. Out of the six candidates for South East Cornwall, only two attended: Anna Gelderd – The Labour Party candidate and the Lib Dem candidate.
The incumbent, Sheryll Murray of the Conservatives, didn’t seem to find the views of young people important enough to show up, along with the candidates for the Greens, Reform and Heritage.

A range of questions were put to the candidates on topics ranging from homelessness to the NHS, before the questions were opened up to the floor and a vote was held to poll the opinions of the crowd.
Responding to concerns over care and the National Health Service, Anna showed her knowledge and vision on how a Labour government can address the issues in the health system, with a fully costed plan to tackle the problems that doctors, nurses, carers and patients face on a day-to-day basis. The Lib Dem candidate paid little attention, reading from his manifesto as Anna answered before admitting that his party has no specific plans to address the issues in the care system but that there are issues in the system that need addressing.

At the end, the crowd was polled to determine the opinions of everyone in the room, with Anna and Labour coming out by 22 votes to 8 over the Lib Dem candidate.

Labour have pledged to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in elections, and with a Labour MP for South East Cornwall within our grasp, it’s clear that young people trust Labour to bring positive change to the South West.

Joe Hibbert, Youth Officer

South East Cornwall Labour Party.