Young people don’t vote: how can that be changed? What will make them give politicians a good hard kick in the ballots? An old square, aged 31, looks to two enthusiasts to find out
British politics is trapped in a vicious circle: young people don’t vote, and therefore politicians don’t develop policies specifically to win them over. So young people feel neglected and alienated … and then they don’t vote. The big exception to this is the Lib Dem tuition fee pledge – which convinced thousands of young people to back the party, only to see it promptly sacrificed to the gods of coalition. Imagine if David Cameron had recanted on protecting pensioner benefits, such as free TV licences and bus passes. It would have been a bloodbath – not least because old people also read newspapers, meaning the press acts as lobbyists on their behalf.
The voting figures for the last election show the huge gulf in democratic participation between old and young. Just 44% of 18-24-year-olds voted in the 2010 general election, according to Ipsos Mori, compared with 76% of over-65s. Contrast that with 1964, where turnout was almost identical among the youngest group – then aged 21-24 – of voters (76.4%) and the eldest (76.7%).
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