We must engage young people in politics
Young people are incredibly important to our society. They are our future: they’ll be our builders, our teachers, our doctors, our nurses. They’ll even be our future politicians. Yet they are among the most disenfranchised groups in Westminster politics, with more airtime often given to other demographics of society, with young people locked out of the discussion. And it’s because of this, I think that we current politicians need to do our best to inspire and engage young people in our political system.
Last month, I visited one of my constituency’s many great high schools as part of a Q&A with students where they asked questions on what issues mattered to them. I was heartened to hear the students discuss serious political concerns such as prisons, the Middle East and Assisted Dying. Their questions and opinions were challenging and well thought through. Never mind the hustings I attended prior to the election - I was truly in the hot seat with these students. I was glad to hear from the group, who were so passionate about the issues affecting them and how politics and political decisions impacted their lives.
We should be listening to the tough questions and the issues that young people are facing.
At the end, one student asked me if I would launch a petition to reduce the price of Freddos, the lovely chocolate treat, back down to 5p. Now, I know this may seem a slightly whimsical and light-hearted petition but, to me, this was a great way for young people to be engaged in the issue of inflation. If you start talking about gas bills, the average 14-year-old might switch off, but if you talk about the price of chocolate bars, inflation becomes a much more accessible and real topic to younger people. We can get them started on the path of caring about issues that do and might affect them in the future.
Getting young people engaged with the issues that matter is the first step, but we also need to show them how they can use Parliament and our political system to change things.
This year’s UK Parliament Week started on 18th November. It’s an initiative aimed at spreading awareness and engagement with what Parliament does and how young people can get involved. To help this, I’ve made sure to meet up with schools to support them with any plans they might have to teach about Parliament, as well as setting up another Q&A session with high school students.
I’ve been really happy to learn since my election about the work that Parliament itself does to engage young people and schools with the political process. I’ve been encouraging schools to work with the Parliament Education Centre, who offer tours, classes and various resources to teach children of all ages about how Parliament works, what an MP does, and how young people can petition their MPs and Parliament.
Closer to home, we should directly support schools with political engagement and I have been working across primary and secondary schools to see how I can support them, as well as supporting their students.
Finally, whilst we can encourage education, if young people feel they are not being listened to by politicians, then what is the point? This is where we can improve accessibility to politicians and ensure that young people’s policy ideas are genuinely being heard.
There are clear signs of this change from our new Labour Government. I am pleased to support my party’s manifesto commitments to modernise Parliament, including giving all 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote.
Moving the voting age to 16 means all political parties will need to sit up and rethink future manifestos and commitments and how they will impact young people’s top concerns, such as climate change and youth opportunities.
Not only this, our government wants to create more opportunities for young people, supporting young people to study creative subjects, improving mental health care in schools, and opening our Young Futures hubs to give young people a place to go if they are struggling.
These are crucial first steps to improving opportunities for young people and showing them that their voices matter and that they should not be forgotten.
I will continue to listen to the young people in my constituency and, whilst we might not get the price of Freddos to fall, I will continue to raise young people’s concerns and support their engagement with their MP and political system.
Patrick Hurley is the Labour MP for Southport.
