MP calls for young people's election
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
A Labour MP is considering holding a "shadow election" in her constituency for young people under 18 so they can get involved in the democratic process.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting last week with youth project the Respect? Advisory Group on how MPs can better engage with young people, Natascha Engel, Labour MP for North East Derbyshire, said she was hoping to put the idea in place at the next election, but had been criticised for proposing it.
"I'm thinking of having a shadow election with a different ballot box in the polling station," she said. "But I've been told there's no need for it because young people aren't going to be interested."
Engel said she felt some politicians were not interested in engaging with young people because they were not voters. "I get some weird criticism for spending a lot of time in schools because young people can't vote," she said. "I don't understand that, and, sadly, until they lower the voting age to 16, I don't think you're going to have a massive number of MPs going into schools and wanting to engage with young people. It's awful but it's a fact of life."
