Earlier this week, on the 31st, I attended two politics related events in Nottingham.
During the afternoon, there was a panel event organised by the Centre of British Politics, affiliated with the School of Politics of the University of Nottingham. It consisted of interesting 10 minute presentations by political scientists of the department (of our school). They reflected on which party was most likely to win/suffer the biggest hit during the upcoming general election in June, in parts of England, Wales and the UK. The relevance and role of Brexit was also discussed.
Thereafter, I went to a local hustings event in Lenton. It was intriguing to see local politics in action. Unfortunately, the turnout was rather low. Still, the audience was rather lively! I specifically recall the final statement by one of the organisers. She emphasised that what is crucial right now is honesty and that – regardless of the end results of the election – parties and MPs need to stick to their promises. Honesty is one of the key principles of the CSPL and this comment – as well as the agreement it received amongst the audience- suggests that it is a value or behavioural trait that citizens themselves see as essential to the workings of representative democracy.
Esmeralda Bon 