Want to know what tomorrow’s voters think of today’s election?

The Hansard Society will be issuing regular summaries of the Turnout or Turn off? debate during the course of the election campaign and journalists are invited to question and consult the young people on election issues.

The Forum will kick-off with a focus on three key election debates:
• Young people’s perceptions of the political parties
• Young people’s perspectivess of election coverage
• Should the minimum voting and candidacy ages be changed?
There will also be a general ‘sounding off’ board for young people’s views on the parties’ policies and their attempts to win favour with voters.

If you want to know what tomorrow’s voters think of today’s election campaign contact Ross Ferguson on 0207 395 4011 or r.a.ferguson@hansard.lse.ac.uk or Virginia Gibbons on 0207 395 4010 or 07812 765 552 or mediaprog@hansard.lse.ac.uk.


Editors’ Notes
• HeadsUp (www.headsup.org.uk) is an innovative website where under-18s debate political issues and processes. The site is fast becoming established as a non-partisan, cross-party educational resource that provides a secure, structured and student-centred discussion platform. The project is jointly funded by the DfES (Department for Education and Skills) and the House of Commons.

• Details of the HeadsUp Turnout or Turn off? forum have been circulated to all schools and students taking part in the Hansard Society Mock Elections – that’s over 1,400 schools and thousands of young people invited to debate their views on what’s happening in the 2005 election

• HeadsUp is an integration of the Hansard Society’s work in Citizenship and eDemocracy. HeadsUp was conceived and developed by the Hansard Society with technical and design support from Glasgow-based digital design agency, MMI (www.mmiweb.com).

• The Hansard Society (www.hansardsociety.org.uk) is an independent, non-partisan educational charity, which exists to promote effective parliamentary democracy.