'Children’s Parliament’ event at Collingwood School
Published: 12 June 2026
On Friday 12th June the Town Mayor, Cllr. Bob Massey was delighted to be invited to a ‘Children’s Parliament’ event at Collingwood School.
The event was part of a campaign to commemorate the murder - nearly five years ago - of Southend MP David Amess; he was accompanied by our Town’s MP, Sir John Whittingdale and former Southend MP Anna Firth.
The objective of the afternoon was to elect two pupils to represent Collingwood School at the Children’s Parliament.
The Children’s Parliament seeks to place young people at the heart of democracy, giving primary-aged pupils a meaningful voice and early experience of debate, participation and public life.
As he arrived, pupils were casting their votes for their preferred candidates, who had each prepared excellent campaign videos.
the Town Mayor was honoured to act as returning officer and announce the results and the successful candidates, along with their peers from other primary schools around South Woodham, made their formal declarations.
Eleanore Stapleton (Yr 4) was elected MP for Collingwood School, and Jenson Cooke (Yr 5) her Deputy.
It was a wonderful afternoon, and a great introduction to the principles and processes of our electoral system.
The Town Mayor wishes every success to all the elected representatives, and looks forward to following their future political careers.