I went on BBC Question time to talk about Bristol student issues: here’s how it went

Let’s be honest, it’s not the most glamourous TV show of all time. BBC Question Time is the kind of show you tend to associate with your parents, or even grandparents, sat in front of the TV complaining about whatever’s been in the news that week. 

Travelling up and down the country, Question Time allows the public to actually interact with the people that represent them, seeing a panel of four politicians or commentators facing a series of questions from the audience. 

As a politics student, the programme has always been on my radar, so when I heard the show was coming to Bristol, I applied to be an audience member. Somehow myself, and a group of us from The Bristol Tab, got invited, so I spent my evening with Fiona Bruce rather than pre-ing for a Thekla Thursday. 

The show asks every audience member to submit two questions, with the chance of being selected to ask them in front of the panel. I chose to focus mine on student issues, discussing the prevalence of expensive and unsafe housing in Bristol. It seems like everyone I know has had experience with mouldy houses, leaky ceilings and blocked drains, all whilst paying extortionate costs to private landlords.  

The panel was revealed to be made up of Green MP Ellie Chowns, Labour defence minister for the state Luke Pollard, Conservative MP Ben Spencer and Daily Mail columnist and ex-Tory MP Nadine Dorries. An interesting mix. 

We arrived at the venue SGS Wise Campus in Stoke Gifford, at 5pm, ready for the taping at 7pm before being broadcast to the nation at 9pm. Question Time films as if its live, so anything you say will be headed for national TV, making the pressure pretty significant. None of the Bristol Tab’s team got our questions chosen, however throughout the programme audience members get the chance to put their hands up and comment.  

After a briefing with Fiona Bruce, who is as iconic in real-life as she is on TV, we headed in and took our seats.  

Questions started by focusing on Keir Starmer’s dodgy week, discussing whether he should be considered ‘a lame duck’ prime minister after Peter Mendelson’s close relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein came to light. The discussion then moved on to looking at Manchester United boss Jim Ratcliffe’s comments that day, which claimed Britain had become ‘colonised by immigrants.’  

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The final question focused on local housing issues, with the question coming from – who was looking to buy his first home – stated he could no longer afford the rising housing costs in Bristol and said he was facing having to leave the city entirely. This led Labor’s Luke Pollard to push on the government’s housebuilding plans, as well as Ellie Chowns challenging the minister on implementing rent freezes and building more social housing.  

In a city home to tens of thousands of students, it felt like the conversation didn’t adequately reflect the problems they are face when it comes to housing. The building of new homes does little to aid students living in uninhabitable rented properties, and I made this point to the panel.  

I described the experiences of both me and some of my friends, who have all individually experiences dampness, mould, leaks and safety issues in their rented accommodations. Telling the country I lived in a mouldy house was definitely a statement. 

Luke Pollard countered my point by detailing Labour’s new Renters Rights Act, which is due to come into effect in May. Although hugely significant in enhancing the rights of tenants to complain about unsafe conditions, and ending no-fault evictions, the act crucially neglects Awaab’s law. Designed to protect renters from issues like mould and damp, Awaab’s law requires landlords to mount a response within 24 hours of them being reported. When the law comes in in May, it crucially misses problems such as fire safety and does not require landlords to act within the 24-hour timeframe.  

Putting this point to the panel, I had one of the scariest moments of my life, with Fiona Bruce asking me to explain the law to the audience – and subsequently the country. While I didn’t manage to get my response fully answered, I still feel it was hugely important to speak out.  

That’s my wider point within this article. The story of me likely embarrassing myself on national TV (I refuse to watch the clip) isn’t particularly relatable, but signing up for these kinds of random opportunities definitely is. Go to that random club night your friend is raving about, attend that university talk about something you’re mildly interested in, email that company about work experience. Why not?   

My biggest advice to anyone is to sign up, however lame it might seem, even if you have to do it on your own, because genuinely – you might end up on national TV.