I went to Blanchelande this morning to partake in their political awareness day. Students had an assembly presented to them by Mark Helyar and Gavin St Pier on how the island’s government works. Mark was keen to explain the taxation and public spending model (which he did very well in teenager-friendly terms) whilst leaving the dry topic of government structure to Gavin – a wise move but I did feel sorry for Gavin. Then, we were put with year groups, changing at hourly interviews, to put a fictional UK party together, choose core values, write a manifesto, slogans and sales pitch. Their history teacher Gareth teaches current affairs and politics as well, whilst acknowledging his own political bias – very important! A gifted and passionate teacher too. The other teachers seemed to have had it drop on them rather last-minute but went with it. It was a really useful experience and I’m so pleased Hugh Tabel (their careers teacher) and Gareth put this together. Many of the pupils were very switched on and surprisingly left of centre! The teachers seemed grateful we were there too and I think I walked away with a few more votes earned!
Then I headed to the Sixth Form Centre at Les Varendes for a meet the candidates event. Sometimes they needed some pushing but most of them largely cared about the same things – their future and the environment. So housing and cost of living came up, as well as producing renewable energy. I think I managed to convince a few.
I’m off to a BBC hustings now. Panelists this evening are Rhona Humphreys, Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, Marc Laine, Marc Leadbeater, Mary Lowe, Lexi Lundberg, Paul Luxon, Christopher Machon, Aidan Matthews and Carl Meerveld.
Tomorrow morning, I’m attending a breakfast meet with GROW staff. Tomorrow afternoon, I’m attending a Guernsey Hospitality Association candidate briefing. Tomorrow evening, I’m on the panel at BBC Hustings 6, along with Liam McKenna, Tammy Menteshvili, Diane Mitchell, Nick Moakes, Charlie Murray-Edwards, Andrew Niles, David Nussbaumer, George Oswald and Kerry Barnfather. Busy, busy, busy!
Tom Moore for Deputy 