Treloar’s General Election Hustings

On Monday 17 June, Treloar’s student governors Archie and Isobel welcomed prospective candidates for East Hampshire to take part in a hustings event for students and staff from both the School and College.

Archie and Isobel invited all the local candidates to attend. They were delighted that four local candidates accepted the invitation and took part in the event.

Damian Hinds, Conservative

Richard Knight, Green

Lucy Sims, Labour

Dominic Martin, Liberal Democrat

General Election 2024
Over half of Treloar’s students are eligible to vote in the general election on 4 July, and the student governors were keen to give all their peers an opportunity to make an informed decision. In the lead up to the election, Treloar’s students have been learning about voting, political parties and how to get their voices heard.

There are 16 million disabled people in the UK and we feel it is vital that any future government engages with the disabled community. We are passionate about ensuring our students voices are heard by those in power and that the needs of all 16 million disabled people are supported by all future governments.

All the candidates were invited to make a short opening statement followed by student questions. Speaking to the School students in the morning and the College students in the afternoon they had a full schedule. During lunchbreak all staff had an opportunity to meet the local candidates. Treloar’s is one of the largest local employers with over 850 staff, many who live in East Hampshire.

Treloar’s students were keen to discuss topics including tax, access to public transport, access to sports facilities and how to improve representation of people with disabilities in parliament.

A tricky question came from Alex who asked why does it take so long to get our wheelchairs fixed? Two of the candidates admitted they weren’t aware this was an issue, but were grateful for Alex bringing it to their attention. All of the candidates and students did agree that there should be better representation of disabled people in Parliament, and that it is important to continue to raise awareness of disability.

Head of College, Ben Bastin thanked all the candidates and reminded everyone that today is the deadline to register to vote. He urged all our students to register to vote and to use their voices to advocate for their peers. Whichever party is successful on July 4, we hope to see them prioritising the needs of all 16 million disabled people in the UK.