Pupils across Accrington have been getting into the General Election spirit by holding their own hustings and ballots, as the country heads to the polls today to elect a new government.

St Christopher’s High School staff encouraged the students to engage in political debate by campaigning for a range of parties in the school’s mock election.

Candidates representing the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green parties took part in a range of events in the week leading up to election day in order to gain the support of their fellow pupils.

Joseph Philbrook (Labour), Hannah Rostron (Conservative), Ian Mussell (Liberal Democrats) and Joshua Holden (Green) delivered speeches to over 400 year nine and 10 pupils and took part in a number of ‘very lively hustings events’ before they headed to the polls.

Adam Calvert, school marketing manager, said: “The audiences at the hustings, made up of the school’s Year 9 and Year 10 pupils behaved in a mature and sensible manner, asking a wide range of challenging questions which demonstrated a good deal of forethought and passion for the subjects at hand.”

Mock election organiser and head of English William Young said: “We at St Christopher’s have been immensely pleased with the response we’ve had to this election by the pupils.

“They have been thoughtful and sensible throughout, whilst exploring the issues with a genuine sense of intrigue and excitement.”

Year seven pupils at Mount Carmel High School also held a ballot based on a summary of the main items in the parties manifestos explained by tutor Paul Slater.

Year 9 pupils question the candidates during a lively hustings at St Christopher’s, with debate moderator William Young, Head of English.

Voters across Hyndburn are heading to polling stations to decide on whether Theresa May’s snap general election gamble has paid off or backfired.

The country will discover on Thursday whether we will enter the forthcoming Brexit negotiations with a majority government or a coalition.

In Hyndburn, Labour’s Graham Jones is bidding to win the constituency he has held since 2010 including a 4,400 majority last time out, with Conservative Kevin Horkin, Liberal Democrat Les Jones, and UKIP’s Janet Brown also in the running.

An intriguing sub-plot to the Hyndburn seat is the performance of Ukip, who gained more than 9,000 votes in 2015 but whose poll ratings have dived since the EU referendum.

There is also no Green candidate this time out.