Local and national politics are a hot topic of conversation at Middlesex this week, with voting kicking off in the student elections, and the Shadow Minister for the Arts visiting the university to talk to students.

Shadow Minister and Welsh MP Chris Bryant was joined by the Hendon Labour candidate, Andrew Dismore, for the student-led discussion on Monday 2nd March.

The conversation focused on issues affecting students and young people, from youth unemployment and apprenticeships, to affordable housing and lowering the voting age. Tuition fees and university funding were one of the first topics to crop up, with students debating  Labour plans to decrease fees to £6,000 per annum.

The discussion also touched on immigration, benefits and the NHS, and with many Middlesex students being first time voters, students were also keen to find out more about voter registration and the general election on May 7th.

Before leaving, the politicians met some of the candidates standing in MDXSU elections, and visited one of the student polling stations on campus.

Ed Marsh, Director of the Students’ Union, said: “Politics is high on the agenda this week, as polling opened for this year’s Student elections.  They really took the opportunity to bring to the table topics that are close to their heart, putting their debating skills to practice. 

 
“Hearing from politicians who are campaigning in the run up to this year’s general election was really inspiring for our candidates and we hope it will make for an exciting week ahead of campaigning across the campus.”