On Monday 19th January Bob Eastwood, the Conservative Party’s candidate for Blackburn, came to speak to students at St Mary’s College. Mr Eastwood, a former St Mary’s student, gave an engaging and inspirational talk followed by a lively ‘Question and Answer’ session with the students.

Mr Eastwood explained his reasons for standing for the Conservative Party in the 2015 general election and set out his vision for improving Blackburn and the local community with his focus on jobs, education and through social media. Mr Eastwood spoke at length about the important role of education and how St Mary’s had played such an important role in helping him to be a success in his career working in the police and with a range of local schools, community groups and charities.

St Mary’s Politics students questioned Mr Eastwood on a range of different topics covering local, national and international issues. A number of challenging questions were posed about Britain’s position in the European Union, immigration and the conflict in Syria. At a local level, Mr Eastwood was asked about what he would do to benefit young people in Blackburn and improve the facilities and services that were offered in the town. Students were also interested in how Mr Eastwood viewed his chances of success in the election.

Bob Eastwood’s visit proved to be a very useful addition to the study of British politics that the students are currently working on and his insights will also be useful to those students who are participating in the college-wide mock election that is being held to coincide with the real thing.

More information on Bob Eastwood’s campaign in Blackburn can be found at his website - http://www.bobeastwood.org.uk/ and he can be contacted through Twitter - @Bob4Blackburn.