The John Smith Centre is delighted to announce it will stage a major election hustings debate specifically for young people next month.
Held in partnership with the Scottish Youth Parliament, the centre will bring together 6 young candidates for the major parties contesting the Holyrood elections.
Before an invited audience of 300 16–29-year-olds, they will debate the key issues that matters most to younger voters ahead of the May 7th poll.
The debate will take place in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh at 6pm on April 28th and will be streamed live by a team from the Scottish Youth Film Foundation.
The six panellists are:
- Iris Duane, Scottish Green party
- Zen Ghani, SNP
- Jamie McGuire, Reform UK
- Eleanor Ryan-Saha, Scottish Labour
- Daniel Khan-O’Malley, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Ross Hutton, Scottish Conservatives
The event will take place in the week after the John Smith Centre publishes its annual UK Youth Poll which, every year, sets out the priority areas for young people across the UK.
At the debate, panellists will have the opportunity to discuss the poll and how they intend to support young people if elected.
Eddie Barnes, director of the John Smith Centre said:
“Our debate will provide a rare opportunity for young people to quiz young candidates on the issues that matter to them both. The John Smith Centre exists to support young people who want to get involved in public life and we’re delighted both to provide a platform for a panel of young politicians who are putting themselves forward, and for audience members who might be thinking of following them. We’re looking forward to a feisty and friendly debate.”
Ellie Craig MSYP, Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament said:
“The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) is the democratically elected voice of Scotland’s young people. Young people tell us that they are engaged and that they want to be included in matters that affect them. It’s great to see this event give space to young people to ask questions of candidates and engage with political parties before the election. We look forward to robust debate and an opportunity to ask candidates how they’d best work for young people in Scotland.”
