A recent Mori survey suggests that just 23 per cent of young voters will make it to the ballot or the post box (YPN, 16-22 February, p4), down from the 39 per cent who turned out in 2001. If proved correct, this would result in the 2005 election having the lowest level of youth participation since the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 in 1969.
The reasons for this ever-shrinking turnout are complex and, to a more limited extent, also true of adult voters. But while there is no one cause of falling turnout, the distance between politicians and the people is often cited as a reason. Politics on Trial, a recent debate run by the British Youth Council, asked a youth audience whether politics was failing young people. Politics was duly found guilty, with the lack of young faces in Westminster and the remoteness of politicians among the key factors mentioned during the debate.
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