Lesson video

Hello everyone, and welcome back to citizenship.

This is your fourth lesson in the unit with me, Mrs. Shortland.

All you'll need today is a pen and a piece of paper, as always.

If you can find a quiet space to study, that'd be great.

And when you're ready, just pause the video, take down today's title, and I will see you in a bit.

So today we're going to look at why does voting matter? And if we cast our minds back to where we've got up to, looking at the struggle for the vote, we had a look at these key ideas, didn't we? We've been looking at the concept of political rights, the rights we all have to vote, to have a say in who represents us and runs our country, and the right to protest.

Last lesson, we looked at the struggle for women's equality, and before that, the Chartists, if you remember.

But the right to vote took much longer for women to achieve and equality is much more than just the right to vote.

To obtaining the vote, women started to face less discrimination because they're able to have a say in some new law reforms. MPs needed their vote and so they listened to what women like Alice Hawkins and others had to say on issues such as equal pay.

General political equality for all took a long time to achieve, and some would argue we've still not reached that because of gender pay gaps or in terms of our electoral system as people face barriers to voting or are excluded.

So today, we're going to have a look at these three areas: who has the power, who actually does vote, and why should people vote? But before we start, let's just recap some essential words.

Are you ready? What you'll need to do is have a look at the key words and match them to the definitions on the right.

I'm going to let you read them, so just pause the video now and press play when you've matched up the words to the definitions.

How did you do? Great.

Just give yourself a tick for all the ones you got right.

I'm sure you got all three of those right, now we've been talking a lot about them, haven't we? But if not, just switch around the order in which they appear on your sheet.

Now we're going to have a look at Luke.

Here's Luke.

His name is actually Luke, he's my son and I made him post for this picture for you because I didn't have a picture ready to hand.

As I read, I want you to write down any areas or words that we come across that relate to politics, things that might be influenced by politicians.

For example, every time you buy a packet of sweets, the government has decided how much tax you pay on that.

The ingredients have all been checked by government and pass safety checks and the person selling the sweets is allowed to work at certain times and should expect at least the minimum pay.

So even sweets are political, aren't they? All right, I'm going to have a read of this slide.

Are you ready? Luke has an important exam at school this morning but he's having a bad day.

He lives nearly three miles from school and he woke up to find his bike had been stolen.

Local buses in the area do not go very near to his school and the bus fare went up last month.

He doesn't have enough money to cover it.

He's not been feeling very well for the last couple of days and has managed to get an appointment with the doctor after school, which he'll not make in time.

Okay, so pause the video, write down all the words you think had to do with politics and then press play when you're ready to carry on.

How did you do? People deal with difficulty everyday, don't they? And a lot of these are connected to politics.

So if we look at Luke crying.

If central government has to make cuts to funding then local counc- so your local council might decide there's not enough money to pay for more police officers and police community support officers.

Local buses are run by private companies who can increase fares when they need to, and these used to also be owned by local council who kept costs lower.

And in terms of education, the amount of money Luke has and the availability of doctors are all areas managed by government ministers making a decision about funding and access.

On to your first task.

Now you're such an expert.

You're going to need to pause the video for this activity when I prompt you to.

You've been invited to attend a briefing with the Prime Minister this morning.

He's not sure which issues are the most important to young people, and he needs you to pick three areas that his government will focus on.

So which of these areas are you going to choose? What I'd like you to do is pause the video and write down your top three priority areas that Mr. Johnson as the Prime Minister should focus on so that you can advise him well.

When you're ready, unpress pause and we'll carry on with the lesson.

Well, I'd love to know what you chose.

So if you just, if you can ask to post your work online, I'll be able to see what it is, and I'll be really interested to see what you'd say to the Prime Minister.

Well, I asked my citizenship classes the same question and here's what they said.

For them, they felt that mental health services in the area that we live aren't very good and they needed more money putting into the health services and in particular, mental health for young people.

They felt also that in terms of welfare, the homeless and the elderly were two of the most vulnerable groups in society, and they want, they would ask the Prime Minister to do something to sort this issue out.

Also, they felt that crime, in particular, actually knife crime, they said they were most concerned about and they would like more done in schools to address this issue.

When I asked them for questions about any of these areas, these are the sorts of questions they came up with.

They wanted to know, well, who gets to decide what happens in these areas? Who voted? Does everybody vote? And how do we actually know what or who to vote for and how to vote? And why should I really care about voting? So we're going to explore some of these ideas now and you might've had the same questions as well.

So let's have a look at this slide to answer well, who gets to decide and why? So we'll start from the very first picture.

Can you see general election, and we're going to work our way along as I tell you what happens.

A general election usually takes place every five years but we know we've had about one or two more lately, haven't we? And a general election is the most important election because it decides who the government and Prime Minister will be.

People who have registered to vote will live in one of the 650 constituencies.

These are just voting areas that make up the United Kingdom.

Each person, or constituent, as they're known, will vote for one candidate from a list.

All a candidate needs to do to win their seat is to get the most votes.

And how many seats were there? That's right.

They are going to try and get one of the 650 seats available.

If they get the most votes, they win their seat and they become one of the 650 MPs to the United Kingdom.

Now this MP will either belong to a political party such as the Conservatives, Labour, Green, or Liberal Democrats, or they might be an independent candidate.

Did you know anyone over the age of 18 can stand as a candidate to become an MP? You don't need any special qualifications, and there's lots of information on that at the Parliament website if you want to go and have a look at about how to stand as an MP.

There will be 650 MPS elected from different political parties.

If one party wins the majority, more than half the seats in the House of Commons, so we're talking about 300, at least 326 seats, then they become the government.

It's usually straightforward and the Queen will appoint the leader of the party as the country's Prime Minister.

As the leader, they can't run the country on their own, can they? So they need a bit of a team and they select MPs, sometimes Lords, who will help them.

And this team of about 20 people will then become what's called the Cabinet.

They become Cabinet Ministers, and it's the Cabinet Ministers that make decisions around the departments that they are in charge of, for example, the Department of Education or for Health and Social Care.

So, lots of information, let's just recap it.

So we're going to watch the video and take some notes, and I'm aware that I always ask you to take notes while watching video, and sometimes that's a bit tricky, isn't it? Here's one system, it's called the Cornell note-taking system and it's not a bad one to use when you're watching videos.

All you have to do is make a bigger margin and write your questions or some main ideas that you want to explore, and then in the notes column, you listen to where somebody talks about the things, those sorts of things and just jot them down.

It saves you having to write lots of unnecessary stuff, and it's a really useful tool when you're at sixth form or university, as the lecturer will sometimes just talk to you for an hour.

So try writing an hour's worth of notes.

That's tricky.

Okay, so if you want to use that system, that's absolutely fine.

The questions are on the left-hand side for you to write in your column, and when you're ready, you can watch the video.

You can watch it as many times as you like to answer the questions and we'll go through some answers in a bit.

Healthcare, education, the environment, international aid, crime, issues affecting all our lives are shaped and driven by Parliament.

But how did this all begin? What does Parliament do all day? And how do you fit in? Parliament has evolved throughout its long history to become what it is today, changing over time to meet the needs of the people.

Two key historical events began this process.

In 1215, King John put his seal on Magna Carta and agreed to a list of 63 rules set out by a group of barons.

This ensured for the first time that no one, not even the King, was above the law.

50 years later, Simon de Montfort, for the first time invited representatives of the towns and shires to his 1265 Parliament.

These events established the foundations for the representative democracy we have today, and from this point onwards, the power to make decisions for the nation passed over time from the Monarch to Parliament.

Let's take a closer look at the UK Parliament today.

Parliament is made up of three parts: the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarch.

The House of Commons is the elected chamber of Parliament.

It debates big issues, proposes laws, amends existing ones, and challenges the government's work.

There are 650 members of Parliament or MPs, who each represents a constituency in the UK.

They belong to either political party or are independent, and they're elected by constituents of the area they want to represent.

The leader of the party that has the most MPs elected after a general election becomes the Prime Minister and heads up the government.

They choose a Cabinet made up of 20 senior ministers who coordinate each government department's work.

Parties not in power are called the opposition.

MPs from the opposition and the government question the governments on policy and propose laws.

The Speaker keeps the house in order by chairing these debates.

The House of Lords is the second chamber and shares the making and shaping of laws with the House of Commons.

It has around 800 members and it's made up mostly of Life Peers and also includes Hereditary Peers and Bishops.

Lords are selected for their knowledge and experience and hold government to account by using their expertise to look at laws and issues in detail.

The monarch's role is mainly ceremonial.

They meet the Prime Minister once a week to hear what's going on in Parliament and formally agree every new law, but that's not all.

There are also people working behind the scenes who support the work of Parliament: clerks, librarians, researchers, and many more.

The government has been elected to run the country and Parliament holds the government to account for us, the public, but how? Prime Minister's questions and ministerial questions give MPs and Lords the opportunity to challenge the government's policies.

It's in these debates that they can share the views of their constituents and the public and how new policies may affect them.

Another important way Parliament can scrutinise or look in detail at the work of government is through select committees.

Select committees analyse and scrutinise policy.

They're made up of either MPs, Lords, or a mixture of both.

Together, committee members look at a particular subject and make recommendations on improvements.

Witnesses with expertise in the area under scrutiny are called to give evidence, which is used to help shape the committee's inquiry.

Members of the public, like you, with a view on the subject can also give evidence for consideration.

At the end of an inquiry, the committee writes a report with recommendations that the government usually responds to within 60 days.

Both houses in Parliament share responsibility for making and shaping laws, but where do laws come from in the first place? A bill is a proposal for a new law or to change an existing law and comes from lots of places, like governing and opposition parties, public inquiries, civil servants, or campaign groups.

So how does an idea get turned into a law? Imagine the government wanted to place greater controls over the internet.

A proposal called a green paper is published, which presents the government's ideas for future policy.

This is open for public discussion with interested groups like internet service providers and others likely to be affected.

Once findings are gathered, a white paper is published, which outlines a firmer plan for government policy.

Cabinet ministers must agree whether the proposal is taken forward.

Once agreed, a bill is drawn up and the minister responsible for the policy introduces the bill to Parliament for debate.

MPs and members of the House of Lords comment on, debate, or amend the bill through several stages, and at the end of the process, apart from very rare circumstances, it must be agreed by both Houses.

It's then passed to the Monarch who gives formal approval or Royal assent, and the bill becomes law, called an Act of Parliament.

In the UK, we live in a democracy, which means power is in the hands of the people through our right to vote.

Throughout history, lots of people in the UK have campaigned for the voting rights we have today.

There are lots of different types of elections to vote in: general, local, European.

Let's take a closer look at how MPs are elected to the House of Commons through the general election.

General elections take place in the UK usually once every five years and every seat is up for grabs.

On polling day, voters make a choice from a list of candidates.

The candidate with the most votes then becomes that constituency's MP.

Okay, but how would I know who to vote for? Before elections, candidates need to campaign to get people to vote for them.

Campaigning can involve handing out political leaflets, speaking in public debates, talking to people during door-to-door visits and party political broadcasts.

Parties tanding for election publish a declaration of their policies during the campaign called a manifesto.

Once elected, an MP represents all their constituents, even the ones that didn't vote or voted for a different candidate.

The party with the most MPs elected forms the government and their leader becomes Prime Minister, and if there's a hung Parliament, where there's no clear winner, then a minority government or a coalition government may be created or a fresh election held.

One way to have a say in how the country is run is to use your vote.

You have to be 18 or over to vote in general elections but you can register from the age of 16.

There are lots of other ways to get involved and have your voice heard, whatever your age.

Remember, MPs represent all of their constituents, but how? You can visit an MP in their local constituency office or you can even travel to the Houses of Parliament to lobby them in Central Lobby.

Lords have knowledge and experience in specific subject areas.

You can look them up by policy interest on the Parliament website.

Anyone can contact any Lord or their local MP by letter, phone, or email to discuss an issue that's important to them or their community.

Sometimes though, there's strength in numbers, so to get your voice heard, you could join the youth section of a party or the UK Youth Parliament.

If you're passionate about an issue, you could start a petition for a cause either on paper or online, or joining an existing campaign, pressure, or protest group to influence decision-making.

These groups use different methods to get their voices heard from lobbying to peaceful protest, all designed to bring about change, and don't forget, you can get your voice heard in school or college too, by joining or starting a student council, a bit like a mini-Parliament.

So Parliament sits at the heart of UK democracy, debating the big issues of the day, making and shaping laws and holding the government to account.

By voting, petitioning, campaigning, and more, you can also get involved with the work of Parliament.

What will you do? How did you do? You can see my notes on the left-hand side.

What is the House of Commons? One of the three parts that make up Parliament.

It's the elected chamber.

What does the House of Commons do? Well, it debates big issues, proposes laws, and challenges government.

On whose behalf does Parliament hold the government to account? Us.

It works for people like you and me.

In fact, it works for all people in the UK.

Why do voters hold power? Voters elect their MP, MPs question and challenge the government, and we can choose to vote our MP in or out.

So lots of power that a voter has over an MP.

So what you need to do now is just have a quick read through your notes, and when you're ready, we'll have a little quiz.

So just unpress pause when you're ready for the quiz.

Are you ready? The House of Commons, which option would you choose? Option one, option two, option three, option four? So I'll give you a second to read them.

It is option number two, they debate big issues, propose laws, and checks the work of government.

Parliament holds the government to account and works for which option? What'd you guess? One, two, three.

It is, yeah, works for us.

The electorate, people who voted, definitely not Kanye West, although isn't he running for president at the moment? So last one, ready? How do the electorate/voters have power? Option one, option two, option three, or option four? Did you guess? Probably not a guess.

You probably do know, wasn't it, well done.

By electing the MPS to represent their views, option one.

Good job.

So if voting in a democracy is a way in which ordinary people have some small power over choosing the people who will manage and run our day-to-day services and create our laws and people over 18 can vote, who actually votes? Let's have a look at the age ranges of the people who do turn out to vote in general elections.

So have a look at that picture that the cursor's pointing to.

You can see that this is, these are the results from the general election in 2019 in the dark green and you can see that only 67.

3% of the people that could vote actually turned out to vote.

So not a hundred percent of voters all went to vote, and if we break down that number even further, we can see that 46% of registered voters aged 18 to 24-years-old voted.

But yet, look at that, 74% of over 65-year-old people voted.

Have a think about that.

Do you think that's an issue? Well, it shows that young people are not voting that much, doesn't it, compared to older people? Do you think MPS will want to attract older voters or younger voters? Will MPs listen to older people's issues rather than younger people if they're the people that are voting? Lots to think about there.

Is this a general trend? Is this a usual pattern? What we're going to do is have a look at this video and take more notes.

You're good at note-taking by now, I'm sure.

And you're looking for the correct answer to all these questions.

In the 2017 general election, the Conservatives received 13.

6 million votes, Labour 12.

9 million, and the other parties 4.

9 million between them.

However, an enormous 14.

5 million people didn't vote and those people could have changed everything.

So here's why you should vote in the general election.

Voting gives you the power to decide how the UK is run.

The MPs you help elect will be making decisions on important issues that you care about, including the NHS, housing, education, and the environment.

By voting in the election, you can support a candidate who will represent your views in Parliament and can influence the policy issues that matter to you.

But MPs aren't just responsible for national policy.

It's also their job to raise local issues and support you as much as they can.

You can go to them and ask for advice on certain issues or even ask them to raise an issue in Parliament.

They can help with everything from immigration status and support for local infrastructure to complaints about utility companies and their help can really make a difference.

Your vote can therefore keep a helpful MP in their job or kick out one who isn't doing enough for your community.

It's obvious that politicians need votes to win.

, but if young adults aren't voting, politicians may be less likely to make policies that appeal to them.

For instance, more than 71% of over 65s voted in the 2017 election compared to only 54% of 18 to 24-year-olds.

It's unfortunate, but politicians do sometimes pay attention to this when making key policy decisions.

If a certain demographic's turnout is high, then politicians will generally want to please them by making policies they benefit from in order to subsequently win or retain their votes.

So if more young people vote, politicians will start making more policies that appeal to young people.

Even if you live in a safe seat or think there's very little chance your candidate will win, you should still vote for them.

The other parties will notice that they're losing votes and they'll want your vote back, so it puts pressure on them to address the issues you care about.

For example, if candidate A is really passionate about environmental issues, and although she didn't win, received a significant number of votes, the candidate who did win will undoubtedly take note of this.

It's likely he'll pay a lot more attention to environmental issues in his future policies in order to try and attract those voters next time.

And on a broader scale, change won't happen if you don't persist.

An increased vote share for smaller or minor parties may also create a mandate for electoral reform.

But what if you don't like any of the candidates? Maybe you disagree with all of their policies but still want to participate to ensure your voice is heard and turnout is high.

This is a perfectly valid viewpoint, and in this event, you can spoil your ballot.

You can simply scribble it all out or even draw a picture.

It means your vote will be counted but to someone who didn't approve of any candidate enough to vote for them, and that won't go unnoticed.

Now, hopefully this has all left you convinced that you should vote, but you can find out more information about elections and why your vote is so important at votingcounts.

org.

uk.

Okay, so you can choose to pause the video to write them down, or you can just shout the answers out.

I'll leave that up to you.

I'm going to go through the answers now.

Task three, choose a correct word to complete the sentence.

The number of people who did not vote in the 2017 election is, 14.

5 million people.

That's an awful lot of people, isn't it? Voting gives you the power to decide how the UK is held, run, or kept.

What do you think? It is run, good.

If young people don't vote, adults may make less promises, polices, police that appeal to them.

The answer is, of course, policies.

If a voter doesn't agree with any of the candidates but still wants to participate they can rip, spoil, damage the ballot paper.

Well, they can do all of them, but the best thing to do is to spoil them.

Didn't move quite across but the answer is spoil rather than rip.

So now we know how decisions are made that actually affect all of us, and we know that the general turnout of elections is quite low despite this.

So the question is, is voting really important? Let's have a look at the arguments.

We're going to have a look at Tobi.

Listen to what she says about why she votes and what she thinks about the Representation of the People's Act and why voting is important.

When I was younger, my dad always used to tell me that "You're stubborn so you won't let anyone tell you who to play with.

You won't let anyone tell you what you watch on TV, so why would you let anyone tell you who should make decisions for your country without having a say?" My mom never said she was a feminist but she always made it clear that I could do anything, and Dad always used to tell me that as a Black woman, I have not always had the privilege or the rights to vote.

So when you get an opportunity to vote, you should take it, never pass it up.

My first voting experience was full of nostalgia because I vote at my primary school, and I remembered going into my primary school as a child and always go with my parents to vote and I felt a little bit of pressure to get it right, especially being back at your primary school.

To know that it was only a hundred years ago that women got the vote, I think it makes me see how far we've travelled in such a short space of time, and I think I feel lucky to be born in the late 80s, not the late 1800s.

I think feminism now it's about making sure that all women of all backgrounds, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, have equal opportunities, economically, socially and politically to the most privileged in society.

I think the Representation of the People's Act in 1918 was key towards empowerment because it was a step.

It was a step to being a little bit more equal, a little bit more visible.

A stepping stone for women's rights, but it only allowed some women to vote, and those women would have been women of a certain class.

So I don't sit and think that law alone has allowed me to be, you know, a Black woman that can vote or, you know, a Black woman that can enter social circles.

But as time's gone on, it's acted as a foundation, it's acted as a stepping stone, a bridge for more legislation to be passed, to let more women vote.

I think what voting does for women is it makes them feel empowered.

It's one of these rare spaces in society or one of these rare actions that we take that takes place in society where we are truly equal.

I mean, as a Black woman, nobody looks at my vote and says, "That means less because she's a Black woman" compared to my white, straight, male counterpart and his vote.

So it really makes you feel empowered and it makes you feel visible, I think in a way, so yeah.

So exercise four, all you're going to need to do is draw a line lock and say how far you agree with Tobi.

She said, "I won't let anyone tell me who should make decisions for my country without having a say.

I think the Representation of the People's Act 1918 was key to this empowerment because it was a step to being a little bit more equal, a little bit more visible, a stepping stone for women's rights.

And voting is important to make you feel empowered and it makes you feel visible." So pause the video, draw a couple of lines, 'cause you'll need another one in a minute and say how far you strongly agree or strongly disagree by putting a cross on that line.

What about Luke? You remember Luke? There's my son looking a bit miserable for himself.

He had a bad day, didn't he? So how far do you agree or disagree with what Luke has to say? What is the point, politicians aren't helping me, it's a waste of time.

Even if I did vote, I'm not sure what to do or who to vote for.

It won't make a difference.

In my constituency the same party always win.

People have always voted and nothing ever changes.

Elections and voting are for old people like my parents, no one ever listens to us young people.

Oh dear, he did sound a bit grumpy, didn't he? Probably, because I asked him to read it out for you, but nevermind.

He did a good job, didn't he? I wonder whose argument matches your opinion the most.

Let's think about Luke, he's not going to vote.

We know that if more young people voted, MPs would have to start to listen to what they say and start to create laws and policies that keep attracting people.

Young people will then get more of a say, just like women did thanks to the Suffragettes.

So pause the video to think of ideas that might get young people like Luke interested in voting.

Unpress pause when you're ready to carry on.

How did you do? Did you get any of these? If not, then just add them to your ideas.

I'm sure you got many of them.

Well, politicians need to know what young people are concerned about.

The need to create policies, first of all, that young people will vote for.

Also, you could have more time in citizenship lessons, learning about democracy and how relevant the voting process is.

You can have more people in Parliament, regular questions from young people.

You could have more time in citizenship lessons, learning about democracy and how relevant the voting process is, as well as having more young people actually in Parliament with them giving regular questions to the Prime Minister, say at Prime Minister's question time.

Also, you could make voting more accessible.

For example, e-voting through phones or by lowering the voting age, which is something we're going to have a look at next lesson.

Your final activity, we got here in the end, brilliant job today.

So I would like you to answer a paragraph on this question: Does voting matter? You can argue for either side, it's your opinion that counts, and there's no right or wrong answers to this because it's a person's opinion.

So if you'd like to use some sentence starters or ideas from that table, please feel free to do so.

Pause the video, write a paragraph, and we'll compare notes in a bit.

So how did you do? Here's a couple of answers.

Let's have a look at these.

See what you think.

So a correct answer would be, it does matter because you get to have a say in how the country is run by voting.

If you don't vote, people make decisions for you.

You become invisible.

That's a correct answer.

If you had written a little bit more, this would be an even better answer.

Many people would argue that it's important to vote.

It's taken a long time to have the political rights we have today.

People such as the Suffragettes fought and died for the right to vote.

It is especially important for younger people to vote, as this age group has the lowest voter turnout and therefore their voices and opinions are not represented.

If you vote, you have a say, and you can vote in local and national elections.

Politicians make decisions that affect your life decisions on education, health, and welfare.

If you don't vote an MP may get into power that has views you completely disagree with.

And they're going to represent you maybe for five years.

Voting matters.

So clearly I've argued for voting matters, but if you've argued against voting matters, that's absolutely fine as well.

But I hope that you can see the better answer, we've given examples, we've given evidence, we've just expanded what we wanted to say.

While you might think I'm not old enough to vote, but there's lots of ways that you can take part and get your voice heard as we'll find out in lesson six.

One way your school can get involved is by getting involved in a UK Youth Parliament annual school vote called "Make your Mark." Young people vote on issues that they want to raise in Parliament.

Find out about "Make your Mark," and you could organise that for your school or suggest it to your student Parliament.

Now in 2019, the top three issues receiving the most votes were protect the environment, tackling hate crime, and votes at 16, that's who the students across the country, you might have been one of them, voted as their top issues that they wanted to take to the Prime Minister.

I didn't give you those issues at the start.

We looked at other issues, didn't we, but that's how the whole country of under sixteens voted.

Look what we've done, we've done loads today.

You had a look at who has the power, who votes, why does voting matter, and you've given your opinions and ideas throughout this lesson.

Really fantastic today.

All you have to do now is just complete the quiz to prove how fantastic your learning has been.

I've written you some nice questions, so hopefully you can get all of those right.

If you'd like to, please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and the hashtag #LearnWithOak.

It's been an absolute pleasure today having your company, and I look forward to reading your work.

Have a lovely rest of the day, stay safe, and I will see you soon.

Bye.