UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 24 APRIL 2015
Students are considering who will get their vote in the wake of a packed University debate featuring politicians from all five English parties.
The City Talks event welcomed people of all ages and backgrounds to the Parkside Lecture Theatre on Thursday evening.
Chaired by Central TV's Gareth Owen and introduced by Professor Diane Kemp of our School of Media, the panel included Andrew Mitchell (Con), Jack Dromey (Lab), Baroness Lindsay Northover (LibDem), Amelia Womack (Green Party) and Keith Rowe (Ukip).
The results of a student poll were announced on the night, revealing that the NHS is the top concern ahead of the election.
And the Twitter wall displayed reaction as the debate went out, live streamed by students from Scratch Media and technical staff.
Hot topics as diverse as the economy, austerity measures, the NHS, HS2, tuition fees and immigration created passionate debate, with strong contributions from the floor.
Chair Gareth Owen said: "I think tonight was fascinating and clearly there was a lot of passion about the NHS. That's what we spent the most time discussing.
"It was a great evening, with a great panel and I thoroughly enjoyed it."
Julian Beer, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Research, Enterprise and Business Engagement said: "It was a very lively and feisty debate and I think the audience enjoyed it and made a very good contribution."
And an audience member, who wanted to remain anonymous added: "It went really well and was surprisingly calm, though there were a couple of moments where I thought it would go a bit crazy!"