Mock Election 2019

RGS students cast their votes on Thursday for the Mock Election 2019.

Each form had been shown videos produced by the political party teams led by Lower Sixth Form Politics students and posters had been put up around school. The issues and parties were discussed in form time and in assemblies across the school.

The result was decisive but very different from the national story – the Lib Dems won 47.9% of the vote with the Conservatives achieving second place with a mere 23.8%. Greens were in third place with 15.1% of the vote so Labour were pushed into fourth place with 9%. UKIP came last with 4.2% of the vote.

53% of the school turned out to vote even though there was considerable competition from the Les Misérables production and from other extra-curricular events going on around school. One of the first form tutor groups won the highest turnout with a Lower Sixth Form group close behind. Democracy in action at RGS!

RGS Political Review

by Jasmine L

Liberal Democrats: The Dark Horse

And there you have it. After a week of intense campaigning, during which the RGS political parties battled it out for student body’s votes, the Liberal Democrats storm ahead of their opposition to achieve a 47.9% majority win.

In the few days leading up to the Mock Election, the students were convinced en masse that this race would be a competition between the Conservative and Labour parties; posters depicting a ‘Labour VS Conservative’ derby were recently seen circulating around the school. However, amidst the jostling of the two leading parties, the Liberal Democrats swoop in and pluck victory right out of their hands.

In addition to the Liberal Democrats’ startling success, Labour experiences an unexpected blow as they are the fourth most popular party, garnering a mere 9% of all RGS votes.