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West Suffolk MP, Richard Spring, has launched a competition open to middle and upper school children in his constituency to win a pair of tickets to Prime Minister’s Questions live in the House of Commons on the 9th May 2007.

As an MP, Richard is allocated tickets three times a year in the public gallery for his constituents.

As this will be the first Prime Minster’s Questions after the local elections across the country on 3rd May and, possibly Richard’s last allocation before Tony Blair officially stands down as Prime Minister, he wanted to give younger people the chance to come and experience the occasion.

The competition question is:

If you could ask the Prime Minister one question, what would it be and why?

All entries should be email address below by the 1st May 2007. Entries must include the entrant’s full name and address, age and the school attended. All entries will be judged on their individual merits, taking into account the age of the entrant.

Richard will then personally select the winner and invite them to come and watch Prime Minister’s Questions and join him for coffee in the House of Commons afterwards. He said:

“When I noticed that my next allocation of tickets could be the last one under Tony Blair, I wanted to use the opportunity to try to engage young people in politics.

"Prime Minister’s Questions is often the highlight of the week in Parliament, when all the MPs squeeze into the chamber to see Tony Blair answer questions on a range of issues that have come up during the week. The timing of this particular question time will certainly ensure that the exchanges are even more lively than usual.

"I believe that young people really are the future of politics in this country. I have always tried to involve them in the political process so that their voice is heard. Children and teenagers often feel that their views are not represented or listened to by politicians and that is why they are turned off politics. We must not allow this to happen.

"Therefore, I hope this competition will spark off political debate and discussions in classrooms across West Suffolk. I am certainly looking forward to reading all the entries.”

Entries must be emailed by 1st May to:

E-Mail Link: askthepm@richardspring.com