Sixth Form Lecture

Norman Smith, a BBC Political Correspondent who appears regularly on Radio 4, was the guest speaker at the Sixth Form Lecture held at Scarborough College on Friday 26 February.

Highlighting the steady decline in the turnout at general elections over the last fifty years, Norman was keen to try and persuade those present to exercise the vote when they reached the age of franchise.  Analysing why this voting decline had taken place, Norman said there were a number of contributing factors.  With the difference between the policies of the principal parties being so much less stark nowadays, this gave the impression that the outcome would be the same whoever forms the government.  

As a journalist Norman also accepted some responsibility for not making the world of politics more appealing and was critical of the negative impact of the twenty four news programme.  This placed huge pressure on the politicians, who are constantly at the mercy of the journalists, and made the world of governing much harder because there seemed to be so little time left for this important activity.

Examining the present image of a politician, Norman said that clearly all that had happened in the last year had certainly tarnished badly everyone’s impression of those who sat in Parliament. This was disappointing because they had a vital role to perform and so it was important for them to re-establish quickly their reputation.  Indeed, he stressed it was essential for the health of the nation that able people were attracted to work in this world, especially if they had some useful experience outside politics before being elected to Parliament.

With a bleak view on Britain’s economic future, Norman ended his talk on a sombre note.  However, with his lecture he gave the audience a most helpful insight into a world that is certainly going to create headlines over the next few months.

After the talk Norman joined the audience for drinks and a dinner was held at the Headmaster’s house for him and certain invited guests that included some sixth form students.