Get involved in UK Parliament Week!

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams is inviting everyone to get involved in UK Parliament Week (November 12-18), a UK-wide festival which aims to engage people, especially young people from different backgrounds and communities, with the UK Parliament and empower them to get involved.

Mrs Abrahams said: “As the country marks 100 years since the first women gained the right to vote, I’m encouraging as many people as possible to get involved during UK Parliament Week 2018 and I’ll be visiting three schools across the constituency and talking to the children about democracy and what it means for them.

“I’m doing this as part of my regular programme of school visits because they are our voters and citizens of tomorrow and they need to understand how vital their participation is in our democracy.”

UK Parliament Week is part of the UK Parliament’s Vote 100 programme, celebrating equal voting rights and other milestones in the UK’s democratic history. 

A record high of 32% women MPs were elected to the House of Commons in 2017’s General Election and 45% of all current Labour MPs are women. 

There is further to go in encouraging diversity and the aim of UK Parliament Week is to invite people of all backgrounds to have a say in their democracy.

Other centenaries coming up this year include the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act which gave women over 21 the right to stand for election as an MP (November 21) and the 1918 General Election when women over 30 and all men over 21 voted for the first time (December 14).

In 2017, UK Parliament Week reached more than 360,000 people, with over 4,500 events.

This year’s UK Parliament Week festival is the largest ever and will see more than 7,000 registered events with over 500,000 people taking part.

Participating organisations include Scouts, Girlguiding, and the British Youth Council. 

David Clark, Head of Education and Engagement at UK Parliament, said: “There are many exciting events as part of this year’s UK Parliament Week.

"Schools, workplaces and community groups across Oldham East and Saddleworth have a chance to get involved in their democracy, and to also celebrate one of the most important centenaries in British democratic history.

"We can only work towards a more equal society if we all engage with democracy so we are trying to encourage as many people as possible to take part.”

Find out more at: www.ukparliamentweek.org

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