Graham Allen MP, Chair of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee brought his Committee to Sheffield in June 2014. He said:

“The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee recently held an inquiry into voter engagement in the UK—considering why voter turnout and political engagement has been so low in recent years, and what can be done to remedy this situation.

This is a clearly subject close to the heart of the Crick Centre’s broader work on the public understanding of politics, so we were delighted to be able to visit the University to hear from local people, local organisations, and academics from the University.

It was invaluable to be able to hold informal discussions with members of the public, and hear what they thought needed to happen to improve political engagement.

It was also a great opportunity to take formal evidence from academics from the University of Sheffield, and some local organisations that we might not normally have the chance to speak to in Westminster.”

Mr Allen’s comments were echoed by Edward Faulkner, Committee Specialist, Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, who said:

“Thanks to the support of the University of Sheffield, the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee was able to hold two successful events at the University which have informed their ongoing work into voter engagement.

The staff at the Crick Centre were extremely helpful in making arrangements for both an informal Outreach event and a formal evidence session that were held at the Arts Tower.

The University made every effort to ensure things went smoothly on the day, and their promotion of the Committee’s visit meant we had excellent turnout for both events—with a wide range of people coming along to participate in the informal discussion with Members of the Committee.”