Baroness Grey-Thompson tells Redcar students why democracy matters

The next generation of voters heard why voting matters from paralympian and politician Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Gazette columnist Tanni is one of several well-known ambassadors for “#S4SNextGen” - a two-week campaign, launched today, which will see more than 30 leading names from various fields visiting secondary state schools across Britain to engage and inspire the next generation of voters.

And for Gazette columnist Tanni, who lives in Eaglescliffe, the initiative kicked off with an engagement close to home - addressing students at Redcar Academy.

Baroness Tanni Greay-Thompson visited Redcar Academy to talk to pupils about the House of Lords, Parliament and voting

Tanni’s talk focused on the importance of voting and her role as a life peer, as well as touching on her sporting exploits.

As well as a question and answer session with Tanni, students also took part in a live-stream election debate, with panelists from Facebook, Change.org and more.

Other names backing the #S4SNextGen campaign include the leaders of the main political parties, plus leading figures from the worlds of business, the military, media, sport and the arts.