LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Simon Hughes, president of the Liberal Democrats and MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey
Liberal Democrat president Simon Hughes says his experience as a youth worker was a key factor behind his move into politics.
"While I was working in Southwark I realised how little was being done for young people - the things that mattered to them were not on anybody's agenda," he recalls. "There was so much frustrated energy among them."
But the Lib Dems would help relieve such frustration, says Hughes, by giving 16-year-olds the right to vote and stand for election. "Politics should not be compulsory for anybody, but from 16 the option should be there," he says. "One of the weaknesses of the present system for those who leave school at 16 is that subjects such as citizenship education come to an end. Then there's two years of life before people start thinking about getting involved in politics.
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