TUITION fees, youth votes and higher education were the top topics at a Bournemouth West election debate at Bournemouth University.

The candidates taking part were the Green Party's Simon Bull, Conservative Conor Burns, Liberal Democrat Phil Dunn, Jason Halsey for the Pirate Party and David Stokes for Labour.

Chaired by SUBU president Daniel Asaya the debate saw them respond to questions from the 60-strong audience of students and staff.

Asked about voting among young people, Mr Dunn, a teacher, said students were already “engaged and on-board with the whole process”.

He said this was the “most important election” he’d ever taken part in, with the country voting about the “foundation that our country has rested on for the last forty-five years".

Mr Burns was asked whether his voting record had been in line with the interests of students. He said: “I make no apology for promoting Bournemouth University, a major driver to our local economy."

He said the university had a “vital role” in the local area, and that the current funding system had led to “record investment and expansion in the numbers of people going to university”.

For the Pirate Party, Mr Halsey, was asked about the privatisation of the NHS, and said: “Most parties are against this idea. We feel it’s a social right so that the NHS be there to protect us.”

He said: “Most people surveyed were generally quite happy to pay a little bit more to actually protect the NHS in its current format."

For Labour, Mr Stokes, said there was a need to “encourage more people to come into nursing, nursing bursaries are absolutely essential".

Speaking about the university, he said: "A number of students that come here to university, stay on in the town, are very good entrepreneurs and grow businesses around here.”

Mr Bull, a borough councillor in Winton, said tuition fees should be scrapped, with “many people being scared of being in so much debt”.

He said that, based on National Union of Teachers statistics, “schools would lose £3 billion in real terms by 2020” if the current policy continues.

Students were also keen to hear from candidates about their intentions around letting, housing and the regulation of landlords, and the international implications of Brexit.

The event was televised live over YouTube by SUBU’s Nerve TV.