DAVID Laws MP helped kick off an election campaign among local children who got in the thick of it with all things political.

Mr Laws visited Combe St Nicholas Primary School on Friday to deliver a speech to children from the Willow Schools Co-operative Trust.

Pupils from the trust, made up of Ashill, Buckland St Mary, Neroche, Winsham, Hawkchurch and Combe primary schools, got all the inside knowledge from the LibDem General Election candidate about elections, manifestos and promises.

Combe head teacher Lesley Katner said: “We got children from the whole group together, and David Laws talked to them about the democratic process as well as the forthcoming General Election.

“He told them about what a manifesto means and about how if you’re promising something it has to be paid for by something else.

“After the talk the children made themselves into a group and set about writing their own manifestos.

“They’ll now start campaigning on those manifestos and will be having an election to coincide with the General Election.

“The school was buzzing and the pupils were very excited to be getting involved.

“Mr Laws told them he’d just been doing some work on the manifesto, so they felt like they were really in the thick of it.

“This idea came about last year when we sat down to plan our creative curriculum, and this gave the children a really good chance to speak to their MP.

“They’ll be working on their promises which are along the lines of ‘we will give extra play time’, but they know that has to be paid for by something like doing extra homework.

“Things like this really get them excited, and understanding about the point of politics and voting, which is really important.”