Attracting young people back to the party
davidrowntree Sat Mar 08, 2008 at 10:16:28 AM GMT 
Facebook
I'm a few years away from being a young person myself, but I have seen several generations of parents shake their heads in despair at young people, saying they have no respect, no discipline, and no politics, but in my experience, that's far from true today.
The strength of feeling of young people against the Iraq war created an extremely political generation, perhaps more so now than at any time since the 60's. But it's certainly true that people are more interested in issue politics rather than party politics, which is a shame, because party politics gives you a real chance to change things, rather than simply protest about them.
The strength of feeling of young people against the Iraq war created an extremely political generation, perhaps more so now than at any time since the 60's. But it's certainly true that people are more interested in issue politics rather than party politics, which is a shame, because party politics gives you a real chance to change things, rather than simply protest about them.
In February 2003 up to 2 million people marched though London against the war. That's more than 4 times as many people as all the political parties put together.
If all those people had joined their local party, they could have de-selected every MP who voted in favour of the war, and brought about a complete change in Government policy within a couple of years.
As it was, they took one of the few courses of action guaranteed to have no effect whatsoever. They went on a march - and of course politically speaking, marching is only marginally less pointless than signing a petition.
So why haven't the political youth been joining the Labour party? You could argue that it's because it was the Labour government that took us to war, but in reality young people haven't been flocking to any of the parties, so I think the cause is more fundamental than that.
I think the problem is that we're not actually talking or listening to young people at all.
Theoretically someone can vote at 18, but as there's an election every five years the first chance most people get to vote is at 20 or 21. At that age they many people are thinking of starting a family themselves, so it's no surprise that when politicians talk about children's issues, they actually mean parents issues.
In any case there are few votes to be won by addressing the concerns of the under-20's, so most politicians don't.
What I think would make a real difference is to drop the voting age to 16.
This would have a couple of immediate payoffs. It would show young people that we want them to help run things, not just to help do things. It would also force politicians to listen to young people and to talk to them, and not just at them.
I have heard arguments against dropping the voting age, typically that 16 year olds aren't interested or mature enough to make the decision on who to vote for. But bear in mind that it was a Labour government under Harold Wilson reduced the voting age to 18 in 1969. The same arguments were wheeled out. They weren't true then, and they're not true now.
There are already 8 countries who allow voting at 16, including the 5th largest country in the world, Brazil. Closer to home, both Jersey and the Isle of Man now allow 16 year olds to vote, having changed their laws in 2006.
That same year, the then Chancellor Gordon Brown said that he might be in favour of votes at sixteen, provided that we taught citizenship classes in schools. Well now that the classes are a reality, I think we have a real opportunity to introduce young people to voting while they're still at school, and set up good habits that will last a lifetime.
If all those people had joined their local party, they could have de-selected every MP who voted in favour of the war, and brought about a complete change in Government policy within a couple of years.
As it was, they took one of the few courses of action guaranteed to have no effect whatsoever. They went on a march - and of course politically speaking, marching is only marginally less pointless than signing a petition.
So why haven't the political youth been joining the Labour party? You could argue that it's because it was the Labour government that took us to war, but in reality young people haven't been flocking to any of the parties, so I think the cause is more fundamental than that.
I think the problem is that we're not actually talking or listening to young people at all.
Theoretically someone can vote at 18, but as there's an election every five years the first chance most people get to vote is at 20 or 21. At that age they many people are thinking of starting a family themselves, so it's no surprise that when politicians talk about children's issues, they actually mean parents issues.
In any case there are few votes to be won by addressing the concerns of the under-20's, so most politicians don't.
What I think would make a real difference is to drop the voting age to 16.
This would have a couple of immediate payoffs. It would show young people that we want them to help run things, not just to help do things. It would also force politicians to listen to young people and to talk to them, and not just at them.
I have heard arguments against dropping the voting age, typically that 16 year olds aren't interested or mature enough to make the decision on who to vote for. But bear in mind that it was a Labour government under Harold Wilson reduced the voting age to 18 in 1969. The same arguments were wheeled out. They weren't true then, and they're not true now.
There are already 8 countries who allow voting at 16, including the 5th largest country in the world, Brazil. Closer to home, both Jersey and the Isle of Man now allow 16 year olds to vote, having changed their laws in 2006.
That same year, the then Chancellor Gordon Brown said that he might be in favour of votes at sixteen, provided that we taught citizenship classes in schools. Well now that the classes are a reality, I think we have a real opportunity to introduce young people to voting while they're still at school, and set up good habits that will last a lifetime.
Attracting young people back to the party | 11 comments (11 topical)
Attracting young people back to the party | 11 comments (11 topical)
