On Thursday our Year 9 were incredibly excited as Jodie Gosling, MP for Nuneaton once again came to Etone to talk to the pupils about the role of an MP, the importance of voting and what a week in an MP’s life looks like.

It was incredibly interesting to heart how varied each day is for Jodie, as she shared how she had held meetings with the Trussell Trust in support of Foodbanks, voted on key legislation for UK laws on farmers, held discussions regarding an upcoming bill sponsored by herself – This before she travelled back to Nuneaton on Thursday to start on her consistency work with meetings, visits and important events.

On feedback pupils were particularly impressed with the passion that Jodie showed in her commitment to improving the Nuneaton area. It was really nice to hear of some of the most recent developments that Jodie has worked on including:

• Refurbishment of Pingles leisure centre which has had £2 million fuelled into supporting the area
• Bedworth Leisure Centre which is open following £20 million of funding in the area
• Further improvements to the town centre area with a recreational park and splash pad planned, along with work done to improve the landscape along the canal
• Implementation of the UK’s first Championship Paddle arena, brining jobs to the community

Jodie was very clear, it didn’t matter which personal party affiliation a person has – It is their commitment to being an active citizen which is what makes the impact as an MP.

There was then an opportunity for questions and a chance for pupils to share their views on some of the developing topics for their age including:

• Debates on the legal age to access Social Media changing to 16+ - With the majority of pupils opposing this view
• Consideration for reducing the voting age to 16 – With a much more mixed responses and most pupils feeling they need to consider it further

It was a wonderful session and we are really grateful to Jodie for coming in to talk to our puipls.