Well, it was about time someone posted on this topic – we can’t expect to stay completely election-free in museums and galleries.
I should point out that this post reflects my own personal thoughts and not those of the Manchester Museum. I’m not actually going to go all party political on you anyway, but here are a couple of points:
1. Vote, vote, vote!
To me, this feels like a defining moment. An election where it really could feel like democracy can come alive. A time when we could see some new directions not only in policies, but also in the way our government is organised and how it represents us.
2. Give some thought to how the parties’ policies might affect areas like culture and education. Here are some links I’ve found which help with some comparisons:
- The BBC gives a very handy way to compare parties’ policies on a range of areas (the link lands on ‘Education’, but it’s easy to change to other areas)
- The Cultural Learning Alliance has an interesting article on what the main parties say (or don’t say) about cultural learning
- The Guardian also gives a listing of the parties’ policies on education and has an article on how free (or not) schools will be to make their own decisions under these policies
- The Times Education Supplement mentions how the future of the new primary curriculum (from the Rose review) may now be in jeopardy, or at least in doubt (towards the bottom of the article)
Obviously, anyone voting will be thinking of a wider range of policies and issues than just culture and education, but it pays to be informed.
Learning at Manchester Museum 