18-24 year olds are half as likely to vote as those aged 65+, but do Politicians really care about the people who will be affected by their decisions? Shouldn’t school children be given opportunities to find out know what is really happening in Parliament? Shouldn’t we have a say on our future? The main political parties are the Liberal Democrats, Labour, Ukip, Conservatives, Plaid cymru and the Green Party. Here in the Rhondda, Labour has been the main party for generations, but we have seen an increase of supporters for Plaid Cymru lately. I’ve spoken with members of these parties and asked their opinions on a few issues.
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I asked two recently elected council members; Jack Harries (Labour – Maerdy ward) and Will Jones (Plaid Cymru – Treherbert ward) what issues people in their area are raising on the doorstep. I found that both had been hearing similar issues. For example education and community cleanliness are high on the agenda. Jack’s constituents were also worried about pensions. You can tell when speaking to both councillors, that they are passionate about making a difference to the people in their local area, so I was interested in finding out how they got involved with politics.
Will said that he’d always had an interest in politics and how believes it has a profound impact on the lives of our communities “it was giving me the opportunity to give something back to the community that had given me so much (a great feeling)” he said.
Jack said that his interest in politics was accidental, and he had been scrolling through YouTube watching music videos, when he stumbled across Prime Minister’s questions and has “watched it every Wednesday since”. Jack is one of the youngest ever elected councillors at the age of 18 and a past pupil at my school and thinks politics and financial literacy should be on the curriculum.
Do politicians care about the views of young people?
By Megan