Peer tells students about life in the House of Lords

STUDENTS met a member of the House of Lords during a school visit.

Poynton High School hosted a talk from Lord Goddard of Stockport to encourage students to become more engaged with the political and parliamentary process.

Lord Goddard met with sixth form students including Alexey Beganov, Tom Reddy, James Robinson, Jack Peacock for an hour to talk about the work and role of the House of Lords.

This was followed by a question and answer session on various aspects of the parliamentary process and life at Westminster.

Richard Hardman, head of Poynton sixth form, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to interact with someone who knows the parliamentary system inside out, as it can sometimes seem far removed from their daily lives.”

David Goddard is a former gas engineer by trade.

He was a councillor on Stockport Borough Council from 1990 until 2012, and was elected again in 2014, representing the Liberal Democrats.

He was leader of the council between 2007 and 2012. He was made a life peer in the House of Lords in September 2014.

The visit was arranged through the Lord Speaker’s Peers in Schools programme, which has been running across the UK since 2007, and has so far involved around 75,000 young people.