On Thursday 21st March, 23 Year 1 Politics students were fortunate enough to sit in on the Mayor’s Question Time.  Assembly Members, representing the London Boroughs, regularly question the Mayor and other key London officials at public meetings, as part of their role to hold the Mayor and other bodies to account.

The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, spoke to our students both before and after the meeting took place and was very interested to hear what they thought of the session.  With the Mayor being asked a series of questions ranging from London’s provision for Brexit to a solution to the provision for play space for children across the boroughs, it was extremely interesting to see democracy in action.

Assembly members Florence Eshalomi, Jennette Arnold, Nicky Gavron and Shaun Bailey all came over after the meeting to talk to our students, with Shaun spending an extended period of time sharing his views on politics in London and the UK in general.  He also gave the students some key advice in terms of careers in politics and essential life skills. 

It was a great opportunity for the students to see first-hand democracy at work in the UK.  Here are a few thoughts from the students who attended:

I really enjoyed my city hall experience. I’d never watched something live like this before therefore it was very new to me. I found the variety of questions asked by the MPs really interesting and also found Sadiq Khan engaging and an interesting speaker. Most of the questions were based around Brexit understandably as this is the main political topic of the moment.

Before going to the Greater London Assembly I didn't have a clear understanding of the importance of the Mayor and his role.  The meeting was filled with assembly members, from different political parties and levels of expertise, who asked the mayor a range of questions from transport to medical conditions such as asthma.  The meeting showed how much of a role the Mayor of London has to fulfil.  Overall, it was a good experience to be a part of.