You can wait ages for a bus and then two come along at once … and so it was for members of Sibford Sixth Form when it came to voting for the first time.
On Thursday, in addition to attending polling stations near their homes, the students also took part in a mock election at the school.
Organised by Librarian Frances King, the Sibford School election was based on the real manifestos of the main parties … but with the party names removed.
“We wanted the students to focus on the key priorities and proposed policies on education, the economy, healthcare, foreign policy and defence,” said Frances. By removing the party names our voters had to really read the manifestos to make their choice rather than being influenced by the names of the parties.”
Pupils from Years 5 through to Sixth Form were invited to take part in the mock election.
18-year-old Sebastian Graves-Read said: “I think it was great that we held a mock election. From a personal point of view, it was also brilliant that I could, for the first time, play my part in the national election and exercise my right to vote.”
The Lib Dem’s might be able to take some comfort in Sibford School’s results, which, unlike the UK election, saw them take the lead over the Conservatives by a margin of four votes.