Let the battle for No 10 commence in C´óÏó´«Ã½'s Election
Episode guide
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Episode one: Thursday 16 October
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Hundreds of children from across the nation applied to take part in Election.
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In this opening episode the remaining 16 applicants are whittled down to the final 10 at a two-day Election Leadership Camp.
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Here they will be tested on their leadership potential, their teamwork abilities and their desire to win, proving themselves worthy of a place in the Election Leadership House.
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Day one at the camp and the 16 youngsters meet host Angellica Bell and judge Jonathan Dimbleby for the first time. Angellica introduces the activities for the weekend and they're not for the faint-hearted!
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The opening exercise is to work in pairs, persuading each other to jump off a platform at the top of a 13-metre pole known as The Power Fan.
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Even though they're all secured and safe on harnesses, this is a huge leap of faith for each of the youngsters and Jonathan Dimbleby is standing by observing how they all react to challenge.
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Every one of them makes it down safely with tears and whoops of joy. They then work in teams to tackle Jacob's Ladder, the Night Walk and the Trapeze.
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Throughout it all, Angellica is there to cheer on those who succeed and dry the tears of those who don't quite make it, while Jonathan is watching their progress.
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Once they've all gone home, Jonathan chooses the final 10 and Angellica visits them to give them the news.
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The ecstatic group prepare to move into the Election Leadership House. Now their campaigns can begin.
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Episode two: Thursday 23 October
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This week's challenge: Selling a political idea
This week's guest mentor: Michelle Dewberry
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Politics is all about selling yourself, so the opening Test of Skills for the series is for each candidate to sell themselves in 30 seconds.
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Guest mentor, The Apprentice's Michelle Dewberry, gives them guidance and judges the winning team.
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After a strong start by all 10 youngsters, Michelle crowns the boys winners of the Test of Skills. Confidence high, they now embark on the week's Leadership Challenge: to organise a political campaign launch.
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Angellica names the two team leaders for the challenge: Amardeep for the boys and Izzie for the girls.
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Like any political party, they need to stand for something and sell a campaign to make Britain better in the form of a launch rally to a selected group of experts.
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The boys have to launch a campaign to encourage the owners of the nation's seven million dogs to responsibly dispose of the 1,000 tonnes of poo they create each day, while the girls need to encourage gum-chewers to use a bin for their discarded chewie which costs £150 million to clean up each year.
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Both teams work within strict constraints with each member playing a designated role. Together they must theme their events within tight budgets, present their campaign strategy and win over their guests.
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Both launch events go with a swing but who will most impress the invited panel of experts?
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The gleeful winners celebrate with a treat trip out, while the losing side is summoned back to the Leadership Election House to face judge Jonathan Dimbleby.
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One of them will hear the dreaded words: your campaign is over.
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Episode three: Thursday 30 October
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This week's challenge: Recruiting people to a cause
This week's guest mentor: Vince Cable
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This week's Test of Skills is about putting their gift of the gab to the test and grabbing the attention of the passing crowd.
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Mentor Vince Cable explains that having loads of great ideas is pointless if you can't get anyone to listen. Politicians need to grab attention and keep it if they're going to change the world.
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The kids are then split into two groups and set about learning the craft of a market stall trader and encouraging people to buy. Vince is impressed by their flair and humour and makes his choice of the winning team.
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Now the warm-up is over, they are set this week's Leadership Challenge: the Haka-Hula Challenge.
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Remaining in their two groups, the teams now have to recruit as many adults as possible from a local company to perform a tricky dance in public during their lunch hour.
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Team A has the "haka" dance from New Zealand, Team B has the "hula" from Hawaii. Each team is assigned a section of the company to recruit from and either a haka or a hula teacher.
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Their challenge is stretching as one team member must learn the dance and then coach the team; one must act as demonstrator; one needs to persuade people to take part; and then the whip must keep them all in order – including their adult volunteers!
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And whichever team doesn't perform at their peak will face judge Jonathan Dimbleby and potentially hear his terrifying decree: your campaign is over.
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