Parties and partying
I spent a couple of days asking young people in the Manchester and London area how they felt about party politics. I spoke to 11 twenty-somethings and only one had voted in the last general election. Here’s some of their comments;

‘To be honest I’m not too bothered. I don’t keep up with developments at Westminster [the site of UK government]. These days my job, my cash flow and socialising are more important!’
Tom, 28, from Manchester.

‘I can’t relate to any of the politicians. They all seem fairly similar and rarely listen to  young people. Only one party [the Liberal Democrats] made student debt an issue, and they are a long way from coming to power.’  
Fiona, 25, from London.

These two examples were typical of many young people’s attitudes to state politics.

Street politics
This would suggest that we are just not interested in politics but a closer study is more revealing.

For many young people politics is not about Westminster. Issues like the US-UK led Iraq war have sparked debate and action in recent years. In 2003 over a million people marched through London, many of them young and passionate.

Hi-tech politics
Technology played a huge role in organising this protest on a global scale. It has become a factor in providing many young people across the world with a chance to interact and discuss without the traditional middle-man of the politician or news media.

The British Council’s Café Society project allows young people from countries across the world to meet in a relaxed, informal setting and share opinions through video conferencing.

Green generation
David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, started cycling to work as gesture of the need to take green issues more seriously. Since then politicians have been keen to win the green label and secure the support of the younger generation. Young people are often perceived to be the ‘greenest’ age group. Indeed enviromental issues are taken far more seriously than ever before. Perhaps they’ll leave behind a greener UK.

Sebastian
October 2006

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