MP Jim McMahon Visits Hathershaw

Hustings with Jim McMahon: Introduction from The Hathershaw College on Vimeo.

After announcing the candidates for our Mock Local Election 2016 on Monday 14th March, MP Jim McMahon came into school to host a Hustings style Question & Answer session as part of the candidates campaign to be elected.

Hustings with Jim McMahon: Question 1 from The Hathershaw College on Vimeo.

Candidates had little time to prepare for the event, which was held on Friday 18th March, but all fielded questions expertly as they experienced their first address to the school community and the steep learning curve that comes with politics. Questions included how candidates would improve opportunities for the youth of Oldham, how they could make Oldham a better place to live, and gave them the chance to tell students why they should vote for them.

Hustings with Jim McMahon: Question 2 from The Hathershaw College on Vimeo.

Hustings with Jim McMahon: Question 3 from The Hathershaw College on Vimeo.

Jim found the time to take a tour of the school before the event, experiencing all of the planned fund-raising activities of Sport Relief 2016. After the Q&A session it was break time, which gave our candidates the perfect opportunity to question Jim further on what life is like in politics, picking up some excellent tips along the way. This was not the first time meeting Jim McMahon for most of the candidates, having bumped into him while on a tour of The Houses of Parliament in London earlier in the year as a reward for applying to be part of the Mock Local Election 2016 process.

Eager to meet more students, Jim stayed for Lunch where he met our Head Boy and Head Girl along with some of our Student Ambassadors and last years Mock Election candidates, which, to Jim's delight, was won by the Labour Party!

Pictures of the event are below.  We will keep you updated every step of the way as our candidates hit the campaign trail.