Parliamentary candidates quizzed by student voters (From This Is Local London)

Parliamentary candidates for the Finchley and Golders Green seat were quizzed by student voters at Woodhouse College in North Finchley yesterday

2:42pm Thursday 22nd April 2010 in Where I Live By Kevin Bradford

FIRST-TIME voters were given the chance to grill three parliamentary candidates yesterday at a youth led elections hustings.

About 50 students from Woodhouse College, in North Finchley, gathered to question three of the people standing for the Finchley and Golders Green seat at the May 6 election.

To a markedly different audience than they are used to, Labour candidate Alison Moore, Conservative candidate Mike Freer, and Liberal Democrat candidate Laura Edge were forced to field challenging questions from a passionate crowd of teenage voters.

Most were politics students which meant they were able to effectively ask the candidates about their stance on some of the biggest policy items being raised in the general election.

Issues around crime and job creation for young people were raised alongside national issues of healthcare and the trident weapons programme.

Chair of the college council, Brook Hewett, chaired the meeting and said it was important for the students to engage with the politicians they will be voting for.

He said: “There has been a bit of a backlash from the whole political scandal, and I know these are new candidates and there is no one here with any sort of record, but it is good to sit down so people can see they are just normal people and not just some demon in disguise trying to rip you off all the time.

“Voter turn out has dwindled in recent years and this is a good opportunity to help boost it by starting young and saying to politicians 'this is your chance to engage with young people and not just sit and contact us with bits of paper'.

“It is a chance to have a bit of face to face contact and realise what their policies are and what they want to do.”

Issues around the economy and Barnet Council's future shape strategy, termed easyCouncil, were raised, and 18-year-old Brook said it was clear young voters want to discuss wider topics.

“I think the classic thing about what young people care about, tuition fees or youth centres, has been run out so many times,” he said.

“But when I sit down with other young people talk about politics, they don't talk about those things, and there are lots of politicians trying to ram it down their throat and say this is what you care about.

“Actually they do care about the big issues. They hope their vote will have an impact on the big issues and they want to hear about them.”

Slurs between the candidates were few and far between, although a comment by Mrs Moore that Mr Freer's policies on easyCouncil were “very much like national Tory policy: Big headlines, bold statements and frayed at the edges” was met with applause and cheers from the audience.

Ms Edge said at the start that the campaign was not about the mounting “Clegg-mania” but claimed people were waking up to the fact the country “doesn't have to have a see-saw of Labour of Conservative Governments”.

And although Brook admitted it was not about a personality contest, he added: “I think Laura Edge did appeal most because she is younger than the others and I think in that sense people did feel she was a bit more energetic maybe.

“But it was interesting to see the candidates actually tackle the tough issues on the NHS and easyCouncil, nothing about personality and to some extent, not about the national level.

“It was local issues that impact on the area and it wasn't particularly about who people liked but it was about their policies and which ones were most significant.”