SmartLaw Resource Teachers Introduction General Election ● This resource has been created for use as either a stand alone assembly or along with an activity for use in the classroom. It has been designed to be delivered leading up to the General Election on June 8th 2017. The materials can be used in their entirety or selected depending on your time allowance, students previous knowledge etc. Please go through the resource prior to delivery to familiarise yourself with the content and select which aspects you wish to include/remove. The resource covers: what a General Election is, why the UK is having an early election, the results of the 2015 election, polling, the difference in outcomes across the four UK nations post Brexit, the influence of Brexit and a brief look at the main parties ‘visions’ from their manifestos. The resource puts forward an unbiased perspective while also giving a digestible reflection of the present understanding in the country. This is so the young people can be engaged with and find accessible this very complex but crucial material. There are questions to the assembly and teachers notes throughout, under each slide, we have bolded some text to demonstrate key aspects to share. The General Election classroom activity has been prepared for use in the classroom on or leading up to the 8th June to engage young people in the debate, voting and the election as a whole. General Election

June 8th Teachers Notes Have this slide open as the classes come into the assembly space/classroom. Q. Does anyone know what is happening across the country on June 8th, in a few days time? A. General Election. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

General Election June 8th Teachers Notes That’s correct the UK is having a General Election. OR The country is taking part in a General Election. Q. Does anyone know when the UK’s last GE was, and how often they usually take place? A. 2015 / every five years. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

We had a General Election in 2015, the next is not due until 2020 so WHY have a General Election NOW? A lot has happened in the last 2 years… Brexit – An EU referendum with just over half of voters choosing to leave the EU David Cameron resigned, a new Prime Minister, Theresa May appointed Article 50 Triggered, signalling the start of the UK leaving the EU Teachers Notes The UK have a GE every 5 years - An early or snap election can be called if Members of Parliament vote by a two-thirds majority – this was the case last month. The House of Commons backed the Prime Minister (Teresa May) by 522 votes to 13, well above the two-thirds majority needed, as Labour and the Liberal Democrats supported the decision. It is felt that the Conservative party and in particular the Prime Minister, Teresa May has probably called this early election to endorse her position with regards to Brexit and the immense and possibly life changing events which will follow. Q. Can anyone name some of the other political parties in the UK? A. Green Party / Plaid Cymru / UKIP / Ulster Unionist Party © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

2015 General Election Number of Seats won: Conservatives 331 Labour 232 SNP 56 Lib Dems 8 Plaid Cymru 3 Green Party 1 UKIP 1 Democratic Unionist Party 8 Sinn Fein 4 Social Democratic & Labour Party 3 Ulster Unionist Party 2 1 MP sits as independent Teachers Notes Q. Does anyone know what SNP stands for? I can give you a clue, they are a Scottish party. A. Scottish National Party. Just for your information, the four parties at the end of this list are all parties in Northern Ireland. This info-gram shows the results from the GE in 2015. The Conservative and Labour numbers were relatively close. This means that getting a clear majority agreement can be difficult for the party in power, the Conservative's. The election could give the conservative party a larger majority and Teresa May a stronger mandate or ‘ruling’ to carry forward the Brexit negotiations. Ref: www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/elections-and-referendums/past-elections-and-referendums/uk-general-elections/2015-uk-general-election-results). © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

So, what is a General Election ? Contestants (known as candidates) seek to be chosen as the Member of Parliament (MP) for a local area (known as a constituency) Candidates are usually from political parties, but can also be independent Teachers Notes Q How many of you know who your local MP is and what party they represent? Q Has anyone met their local MP? In the weeks leading up to the GE local MP’s will be speaking at meetings, knocking on doors and trying to meet as many local people as possible. They are contestants hoping to be voted in as the member of parliament for that area. You may remember getting an extra day off when you were in primary school because your school may have been a polling station. Most the MP’s you may see around your area or hear people talking about are from well known political parties, like the ones mentioned above. But anyone can stand for election Q. Can anyone remember any of the less well known parties? A. Democratic Unionist Party / Sinn Fein / Social Democratic & Labour Party / Ulster Unionist Party / Plaid Cymru / Green Party © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

So, what is a General Election ? The candidate with most votes in a constituency is chosen as its MP, to the House of Commons The leader of the party with the most MPs becomes Prime Minister and creates a government to run the country The party with the second highest number of MPs becomes the opposition Teachers Notes On Thursday 8th of June an Member of Parliament will be selected for each constituency. The party with the most votes in each constituency will become the party of the government and the leader will be the Prime Minister. The party with the second highest number will form the opposition. MP’s from other parties who were elected such as the parties in Northern Ireland and Wales will also represent their constituency in parliament, but because of their small numbers cannot often influence decisions or policy making. Did you know that you can visit the House of Commons or Westminster Palace as it is also known. You can go on a tours, go to the café and have tea, or to sit in the Public Gallery. - See more at: http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/how-to-visit-the-houses-of-parliament/#visit Q. Only UK citizens 18 and over can vote, how many of you think the voting age should be lower? Maybe 17 or even 16? Q. Has anyone heard which party is suggesting that young people of 16 and older should be given an opportunity to vote? A. Green Party. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Quick definition….. Opinion Poll: Noun an assessment of public opinion by questioning a representative sample, especially as the basis for forecasting the results of voting. Teachers Notes Read the definition if you consider it will support students understanding. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

What are the Polls saying? May average of opinion polls Conservatives 48% Labour 29% Liberal Democrats 10% UKIP 5% Greens 2% Conservative lead of more than 19% ahead of Labour Teachers Notes The average of opinion polls published in May put the Conservatives on 48% compared with 29% for Labour a lead of more than 19%. The Liberal Democrats were on 10%, UKIP 5% and the Greens on 2%. The polls on 4th June put Conservatives on 45% and Labour on 34%. Polling companies generally claim that 95% of the time, a poll of 1,000 people will be accurate within a margin of error of +/-3%. If the May poll is how people vote it would translate into a comfortable win for the Conservative party, however the polls are changing and the gap between the two main parties is getting smaller. Polls have and can be wrong. Q. Does anyone have a view on why we conduct opinion polls around elections and what the public might understand by them? Ref : 4th May 2017 http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/ © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

The United Kingdom, divided by the 2016 referendum Leave: 51.9% Remain: 48.1% England Leave: 53.4% Remain 46.6% Wales Leave: 52.5% Remain 47.5% Northern Ireland Leave: 44.2% Remain 55.8% Scotland Leave: 38% Remain 62% voted to leave voted to remain Teachers Notes This slide shows the outcome of the referendum in June last year when the country voted on leaving or staying in the EU. You will see on the far right that the difference between leave and remain was very small, meaning that a large percentage of the UK population that voted wanted to remain in the EU. The two sets of data on the left shows how England and Wales voted to leave – while Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain. You will see here that in England, Wales and Northern Island the difference between leave and remain was fairly small, however in Scotland the remain vote was fairly high. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Lets look at what some of the parties are saying Teachers Notes Here are some political party emblems, I am going to point to them one at a time and say who they are, put your hand up if you think I am correct. Reading across from left to right in two rows they are: Plaid Cymru / Labour / Lib Dems / Conservatives Sinn Fein / Scottish National Party / Green Party / Social Democratic & Labour Party So let’s have a look at what some of these parties are saying leading up to the elections. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

The Green Party “….economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few; a Britain that’s open to the world and the protection of our precious environment. We will stand up to the politics of hatred and division…. give people across the country a chance to vote for a better Britain.” Policy: 16 and 17-year-olds vote in the General Election Teachers Notes See summary below to read out. The Green party want an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few; they will protect the environment, protect and maintain the NHS, public services, transport and housing. They want to build a positive future for everyone and in particular for young people. The Green party believe in being brave, in speaking their minds, and in standing up for what matters. They are proud to do politics differently, working with each other, rather than against each other. And something you may all be very interested in is they want to lower the voting age to give 16 and 17-year-olds a vote in Elections. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Liberal Democrats Tim Farron, leader, said, “If you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit, if you want to keep Britain in the single market, if you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance.” Teachers Notes See summary below to read out. The Liberal Democrats say they exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which they seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. They want to avoid a devastating hard Brexit, and are commitment to a second EU referendum if they win. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Conservatives “We need an election now to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond” Teachers Notes See summary below to read out. The conservatives are focusing on promoting their leader, the Prime Minister, stating that she is the only person who can secure the ‘strong and stable leadership’ required for the Brexit negotiations. The Conservative Party supports free market capitalism, free enterprise, a strong national defence, deregulation, and restrictions on trade unions. They also state that the economy is only safe in their hands. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Labour For the many, not the few “Let’s build a fairer society where everybody is able to get on in life, protect the NHS and education. We will put tighter regulations on big business and make sure all are paid decent wages.” Teachers Notes See summary below to read out. The Labour party have released 10 pledges, here are some of their most well known ones; a secure homes guarantee , peace and justice at the heart of foreign policy, a secure NHS & social care and work to cut inequality in income and wealth. Below are the others - Full employment Put the public back into our economy Security at work A national education service Action to secure our environment Action to secure an equal society © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Results in on June 9th Teachers Notes So on the 9th June we shall know which party will be leading the country into the Brexit negotiations and for the next five years……… that is unless there is another snap election! To complement this ‘assembly’ resource the Citizenship Foundation have also created a General Election Activity resource. This resource provides an opportunity for a class/group to discuss and debate five manifestos and vote in their own election. © Citizenship Foundation 2017 • Charity Reg. No. 801360