Please use your vote

Here’s a special message from Frances Stonehouse, curator of the “Our Fight for the Voting Right” exhibition at Tolson Museum in Huddersfield. Would you have had the right to vote 100 years ago? Please use your vote on Thursday…

What’s it like being a Councillor in 2016?

Andrew Cooper has just been re-elected as Councillor for the Newsome Ward. He talks about the role of Councillor as a community champion and tells us about some of the issues that came up in this year’s campaign.

Come out and vote today

We met Sharni, presiding officer at Lindley Methodist Church polling station. She’s keen for you to come out and vote today. Don’t worry if you’ve lost your poll card – just come along and the elections staff will help.

51,000 postal votes are on the move…

It’s a week before the 2016 local elections and the huge task of opening the postal votes from the Kirklees area is already well under way. Over 51,000 postal votes have been issued for the local elections and PCC elections on Thursday 5th May 2016. We talked to Chris at the postal vote opening to find out where your postal vote goes after you pop it in the post box.

Engaging young people in democracy

We talked to Coco from the University of Huddersfield Students Union about why it’s important to engage young people in democracy.

University of Huddersfield democracy week

We talked to Coco, Communications and Democracy VP at the University of Huddersfield Students Union about lots of good stuff going on at the uni during democracy week 2015.

NVRD 2015 The benefits of registering to vote

We talked to Dan from the University of Huddersfield Student Union about why it’s important for students to register to vote. Part of National Voter Registration Day.

National Voter Registration Day at the University of Huddersfield

The University of Huddersfield are doing some great work to register people to vote. We found out more from Dan at the Students Union.

Supporting people with registering to vote

We talked to elections outreach officers Sam and Louise about the work going on across Kirklees to support people with registering to vote. Part of National Voter Registration Day 2015. #NVRD

Local Democracy for Everyone – free events

Local Democracy for Everyone is a series of free events in Huddersfield from 5th to 7th February 2015, for anyone who is interested in local democracy.

Radical Heritage Trail

Saturday 7th February 2015
1.30pm to 3.30pm

Venue: Meet at the Harold Wilson statue in St. George’s Square, Huddersfield

Discover Huddersfield’s rich heritage of radical politics in this free guided walk.

Starting from the Harold Wilson statue in St George’s Square, this free guided trail will visit town centre sites that are associated with the Luddites, Chartists, the early days of the Labour Party, the anti-war movement during World War One and lots more.

The walk will be led by Cyril Pearce, author of ‘Comrades in Conscience’ which tells the story of Huddersfield’s conscientious objectors, whose opposition to the Great War earned Huddersfield the reputation of being ‘a hotbed of pacifism’.

The walk will last up to two hours and you’ll have an opportunity to drop in to the Media Centre at the end for a hot drink and to see the conclusion of the “We’re not in Westminster any more” event which will bring together advocates for redesigning local democracy.

This event is being run in collaboration with Discover Huddersfield and Huddersfield Local History Society.

PechaKucha
Friday 6th February 2015
7pm to 8pm

Venue: Café Ollo, The Media Centre, Northumberland Street, Huddersfield

Join us for PechaKucha Night from 7pm to 8pm at The Media Centre in Huddersfield to hear about people’s passions and interests – or share your own. Each speaker will talk for 6 minutes 40 seconds each, following a “20 slides for 20 seconds” format. The evening includes some of our local democratic history. Free admission. Licensed bar. Everyone welcome. This event is being run in collaboration with The Media Centre.

Democracy of Print
Saturday 7th February 2015
10am to 12 noon & 1pm to 3pm

Venue: The Media Centre lobby, Northumberland Street, Huddersfield

Join in making a printed banner inspired by Huddersfield’s radical heritage. From the Luddites and the Chartists to the present day, printmaking has played an important part in the development of democracy. Now it’s your turn!

Local artist Amy Hirst will be helping us to make a printed banner to capture our conversations about local democracy as part of the “We’re not in Westminster” conference on 7th February. You can drop in to add yourself to the banner and make your own campaign badge to take home.

 

National Voter Registration Day
5th & 7th February 2015

Our Local Democracy for Everyone events are happening in the same week as National Voter Registration Day. Many local organisations are campaigning to get people registered to vote this week – especially younger people who are massively under-represented on the electoral register.

You can drop in to register to vote at many venues across Kirklees on Thursday 5th February, including at Kirklees Libraries (it’s late night opening in Huddersfield), at Customer Service Centres and at a special mobile hub outside Huddersfield Bus Station. Or visit the elections outreach team in the lobby of The Media Centre on Saturday 7th February, from 10am to 12 noon & 1pm to 3pm.

You can find out more about all these events at:
Local Democracy for Everyone – What’s on