Tag Archives: Politics

Labour MP sets Politics students the task of engaging young voters

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Bob Ainsworth MP spoke to Politics and Media students at Bournemouth University as they look to study the EU Parliamentary elections.

Mr Ainsworth, a Visiting Fellow within BU’s Media School, set an online campaign task for five groups of first year students aimed at mobilising young voters in the South West region for each of the main parties: Labour, Conservative, UKIP, Liberal Democrat and Green Party.

Labour lost their MEP in the 2009 election and the Green Party missed their target for an MEP by less than one percent, so a small surge in voter registration and engagement could easily tip the balance for any of the parties next month. The students discussed what they saw as the main weaknesses and strengths of the existing online campaigns, which in their view were all weak and not currently aimed at young potential voters.

Shortly afterwards in a studio interview  four students Elina Kuusio, Alan Andrews, Jack Aspinall and Joanna Poulton (pictured) grilled Mr. Ainsworth, Secretary of State for Defence in the last Labour government, on his views on what the European Union offers young people, UKIP and the likely outcome of the elections.

Parts of this televised debate will be broadcast during the Media Schools coverage of the 2014 EU Parliamentary elections on the 22nd May between 10pm and 1am. Bob Ainsworth is returning to Bournemouth University to judge their campaigns on the 8th May when he will also be contributing to a student organised screening and debate on Belarus.

In an effort to engage young voters on May 15th, Bournemouth University will be hosting a hustings in the Allsebrook lecture theatre from 7pm where prospective MEPs from all the parties will be addressing students and local residents. Politics students will be attending this and learning more about this important election.

Students from the Ukraine, China (Kunming) & Venezuela

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bu-logoWhilst the world’s attention is focussing on a number of political events across the globe, BU is obviously concerned for how this is affecting students studying here who come from these regions.

If you would like to speak to someone about any worries or concerns you may have, you can contact your course leader, askBU, the University Chaplaincy and/or Counselling Service or the SUBU Advice team. Contact details for all university services are available on the Student portal under Help & Advice and Health & Wellbeing, or myBU for your tutors.

Tobias Ellwood MP talks politics with BU students

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Tobias Ellwood MP visited Bournemouth University today to talk to a group of Media School students about the current political situation in Syria and the UK Government’s response.

The Conservative representative and Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East spoke to MA Multimedia Journalism and BA Politics and Media students offering his knowledge on the situation in Syria and the UK Government’s responsibility to be good ‘global citizens’, offering support to those who need it.

Students also offered their thoughts during a lively question and answer session, with topics such as chemical warfare and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars also discussed.

On students taking responsibility and engaging with politics, Tobias Ellwood MP said, “I think it is very important [that students engage in politics].” Mr Ellwood then went on to talk about Britain’s important place in global politics and the need for the next generation to grasp the importance of it and continue Britain’s legacy.

Why Politics matters

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MPs and representatives from the main political parties were at BU to debate whether young people today are engaging with politics.

The Why Politics Matters event was organised by students from the BA (Hons) Politics and Media degree.

It took place at BU’s Executive Business Centre in front of an audience of staff, students, members of the public and pupils from Corfe Hills School.

Opening the event, BA Politics and Media Programme Leader David McQueen, said that, while young people appeared to be turning away from the traditional party politics, there was an increasing amount of political activity on social media channels like Twitter and Facebook.

“Does party politics matter?” he said.

“Does it make any difference who we vote for? Lots of people don’t think it does. People think they are all the same.

“One of the problems with politics is young people are just turning their back on it. Why are people losing faith in politics?”

All of the main political parties were represented at the event, with speakers including Leader of the Green Party Natalie Bennett, UKIP Candidate for Christchurch in the 2015 elections Robin Grey, and Conservative Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns.

Each speaker had the chance to talk about their party, whether they thought young people were disengaged with politics and why politics should matter to them.

Labour MP and BU Visiting Fellow Bob Ainsworth disagreed that young people were less engaged with politics than previous generations.

“I don’t believe young people in this country are ignorant of politics to anything like the generations of young people have been in the past,” he said.

“I voted Labour because my family voted Labour.

“A generation ago, politics was class-based. This generation is a lot more knowledgeable than the generation to which I belong and many generations back in history.”

Annette Brooke, Liberal Democrat MP for North Dorset and Mid Poole, said that politicians needed to do more to encourage more young people need to vote in elections.

“It’s quite shocking to think that in the last election, less than 40 per cent of 18-25 year olds voted,” she said.

“I think it shows a failure on the part of the politicians.

She added: “There are very important issues that are going to affect your lives, not mine.

“It is not right that the older generation should be dominating what your future is going to be like.”

The event also featured a question and answer session with all of the speakers, and the chance to network and visit local political party recruitment stalls.

Recent BU Public Relations graduate Felicity Pentland also presented her research into why young people are not voting; through surveys and interviews with 18-25 year olds, she found that barriers included a lack of understanding and a negative view of politicians.

Douglas Tham, a second year Politics and Media student and President of the BU Politics Society, said he felt the event had gone well.

“We wanted to encourage young people to get involved with politics and see what it is like to be in the presence of an MP,” he said.

“It’s been really good – it’s a great chance for the young people here to get to speak to MPs on a personal level and will hopefully encourage them to look at the work that their MPs are doing.”

Darren Lilleker on TUC conference to BBC Radio Solent

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Darren Lilleker, a senior lecturer in Politics and Media at BU, spoke to BBC Radio Solent to give his thoughts on Ed Miliband’s speech at the TUC conference.

Speaking to Steve Harris on Solent’s Drivetime show, Darren gave his thoughts on Miliband’s comments, on Labour’s changing relationship with trade unions and what the decision, and indeed Miliband’s speech, will have on the future of the Labour Party.

Darren said of the speech, “It was cautious, it appealed to the unions’ anti-Conservatism.”

The conversation then progressed to look at Labour’s membership, and whether they were leaving themselves financially short by making this step. Darren continued, “What Labour has to do is reach out to a broader swathe of people and not rely on the trade unions as a supplier of membership and think about how it is going to get people to join the Party and, obviously, to donate to the Party. That is the big issue for the Party, losing the money that it relies on for its campaigns. But how do you get people to join political Parties and to engage with them?”

But where should the Party turn, again Darren explained how difficult it can be for Parties to find funding, “The whole party funding issue is very complex. How do you make sure that Parties are not being funded through businesses with vested interest? That is a huge debate that needs to be had!”

Darren was then asked how much damage could be done by Labour in making this decision, “I’m not sure how big an issue it is for the average voter. I don’t think the average man in the street is concerned about the relationships with [Labour and] the trade unions. For most it is an automatic association they make in their heads – Labour has always had a trade union link.”

Dr David McQueen on the current conflicts in Cairo

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Bournemouth University’s lecturer in Politics and Media, and expert in global conflict, Dr David McQueen featured on Steve Harris’ Drivetime show on BBC Radio Solent giving his opinion on the current conflict and civil unrest in Egypt.

“I think that this is a tragic short lived experiment of democracy, I don’t think it had to turn out this way and there were many missed opportunities for resolution within the brotherhood and the government” Dr McQueen explained.

The discussion continued with Barrack Obama condemning on the violence; “I think the US government could’ve played a part by saying if there was any army coo they could help the Egyptian army out”.

“The US Army fund the Egyptian army One Billion Dollars a year”

Dr McQueen relates the public reaction of what is happening now in Egypt to the 1972 Bloody Sunday reactions.

“When we look at thousands of deaths of armed protestors, I just see very dark days ahead for Egypt”.

Dean Eastmond

Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.