Westminster Hall debate on Young People and Democracy

Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Thu 23rd Mar 2006

I apologise for arriving late; I was at a sitting of a statutory instrument Committee. I shall have to leave about half an hour before the end of the debate to catch my flight to my constituency, although I would very much like to hear the summing up. I am sure I shall read the Hansard report.

I want to share my experience as the youngest MP in the House. People often talk to me—in party political contexts, at conferences or at events in the wider community—about the issue of young people and democracy. They ask, "How do we get more young people interested in politics?" I often think, "Are you not asking the wrong person?" Given that I have stood for election and been elected, I am clearly a young person who is very interested in politics. It is the wrong question to ask because as we have heard today, young people are interested in politics.

Last July, I was at the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh and it was stuffed full of young people from all around the country making their voices heard. I am sure that hon. Members who attended the Stop Climate Chaos lobby a few weeks ago will have noted the number of young people there who were campaigning on that issue.

Young people are generally engaged in the issues, but how do we turn that engagement towards the political process? That is the challenge for us all. Members have talked today about different options and other things that are happening in their constituencies to engage young people. We all go to speak in schools in our constituencies and answer pupils' questions about our work as MPs and how the parliamentary system works. I, for one, always find such events incredibly enjoyable. It does not matter whether I have been wading through the intricacies of a Bill and its legislative jargon or finding piles of correspondence in my office—when I go to a school, I forget all that.

Usually, there is a group of several dozen young people who start off slightly sceptical and think that the meeting will be dull and dry. However, starting to ask questions acts as a catalyst; more and more questions keep coming and they get incredibly engaged. The brilliant thing about school pupils is that there is no politeness or faffing around not being direct—they get straight to the point, asking how much I earn or whatever is on their minds. I always come away from such meetings feeling inspired about the next generation of people coming through the system.

We have also heard about the Youth Parliament, which does a huge amount of good work. I lend my voice to the calls for it to be able to use the Commons Chamber when it meets. That would be excellent. Many schools have debating societies. I got involved when my school ran parliamentary debates, which sparked my first interest in politics back in the early 1990s. Last Friday I went to a meeting of the European Youth Parliament, west of Scotland division, which was being held in my constituency and where people were debating European issues. In addition, there is also an extremely successful BBC schools question time event.

There are many projects or organisations set up to involve young people in politics. Often, they are all siphoned off as a separate section: we say to ourselves, "This is the young people being involved in politics bit. The other politics bit is in the House of Commons or the council chambers, or in groups up and down the country".

We must also promote direct engagement with the political process. Currently, young people cannot vote until they are 18. My view is clear: whenever I meet young people, whether it be in schools or at any community events, I am their Member of Parliament. Whether or not they can vote does not matter. If they are concerned about issues, they should write to me, e-mail me, check on my website to see what I have said or listen to my podcast. They should use whichever means they can access to find out about politics. I want them to get in touch. Sometimes when I say that to a young person it is a bit of a new idea to them. As they cannot vote, they have not thought that they can have that voice. I am pleased to say that I have received more letters and e-mails from young people as a result of that approach.

It is also important to encourage young people to go further than just having their view. They might like to get involved in many ways. For example, they might want to join a pressure group and get involved in the organisation of campaigns. If they have a particular affiliation to a political party, they should go further and join the political party. They should find out more about standing, be it for a local town, parish or community council, the local authority, Parliament, one of the Assemblies or the European Parliament.

My hon. Friend the Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) mentioned that the youngest candidate at the previous election was a Liberal Democrat. At the one before that, in 2001, I was one of the youngest candidates in the country. I found it an incredibly valuable and interesting experience. We should encourage young people, not just to tell us their views, but to get involved and be part of the system. That must be the way forward.

Many hon. Members have signed early-day motion 1218 on the 2009 Project. There is an excellent website associated with that: www.the2009project.com. It aims to get young people—it extends the definition to everyone who will be under 35 at the next election—to sign up to pledge that they will vote. Irrespective of who they vote for, the aim is to get them to pledge that they will vote and use their voice. As has been mentioned, young people care about many issues—anti-bullying was one that came up and, recently, issues about the minimum wage were raised. It took a long time for 16 and 17-year-olds to be enfranchised within that. Tuition fees affected younger people in particular. If the voice of young people is not heard at the voting booth, those issues are less likely to be taken seriously in this House. Apparently, 13 million under-35s will be eligible to vote at the next general election. Politicians should be taking account of that huge number of voters. I hope that hon. Members have used that opportunity to encourage young people in their constituencies to sign up to vote.

The issues about how young people vote are also important. I remember the first time I was able to vote. Very frustratingly, I could not vote in the 1997 election, although by a cruel accident of birth many of my best friends were able to do so—they were several months older than me. I restricted myself to lobbying them and trying to convince them to vote Liberal Democrat.

My first vote was in council elections, when I was a student living in Southwark and studying in London. I was keen to vote as I was interested in politics. I received my polling card and it mentioned a certain primary school. I had been living in London for eight months and I had no idea where it was. As I was walking out of the halls of residence to try to work out where to go, my hon. Friend the Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey came up—

-Simon Hughes (North Southwark & Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat)

I did not pay my hon. Friend to say this.

-Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire, Liberal Democrat)

I do not think that I have shared this story with my hon. Friend. He might not remember the occasion, because I was just some student in Butlers Wharf hall of residence. He said, "Get into my car and I will give you a lift to the polling station". I said to myself, "Fine, that's great". The polling station was about 200 m away; it was so close to where I had been living for eight months and I had no idea where it was. Students move into their halls of residence and work out how to get to their university classes and where the nearest bar is. Other than doing that, they might not be very integrated into their local community. That is a big problem, because if it is not easy for people to work out where to go to vote, they are far less likely to do so.

I got back from the polling station, got a sheet of A4 paper and, using a marker pen, drew a little map that said, "You are here. Go there, turn right, and take the second on the left. There is the polling station. Voting is today". I stuck it by the entrance to the hall of residence. According to the marked registers for that year, many more of the students voted. Simple things such as that can make a difference. It is about both ensuring that people are on the register and that the polling stations are accessible. For halls of residence in particular, how difficult would it be for the local authority to issue a map with the polling card?

-Simon Hughes (North Southwark & Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat)

Have a ballot box in halls of residence.

-Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire, Liberal Democrat) Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed, there could be a ballot box in halls of residence or in universities.

We need to examine such barriers. I agree with many of the comments about voting at 16. In response to the proposition made by the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan), it is not the be all and end all. It is not the only thing to do. It will not be the magic solution, but it is part of it because it is part of ensuring that people can participate. While people need their parents' consent to get married at 16 in England and Wales, if people are really determined they can pop across the border to Gretna where that is not required. That gives another reason why people should be able to cast their vote at 16.

On a slightly controversial note, I welcome candidacy at 18, which is coming forward, but I would go one step further. I hope that if the issue of voting at 16 is reconsidered, we will also reconsider the age of candidacy and perhaps it could also be lowered to 16. It makes sense to have the age of candidacy the same as the age at which people can cast their vote. I have heard people say, "This would be dreadful. We would have 16-year-old MPs." Frankly, as someone once said, "If you are good enough, you are old enough." Anyone who gets elected has had to convince a constituency that they are the right person for the job.

People look at this House and they do not see it as being representative. Currently, people can stand for Parliament at 21 and, as I mentioned, I did so. It is uncommon for people to win at their first attempt. As a result, while the age at which people can stand for Parliament is 21, we do not have any 21-year-old MPs, nor have we had since Bernadette Devlin was elected back in the 1960s. There is no guarantee that there will be MPs of the age at which people can stand for Parliament. Despite the fact that about 40 per cent. of the population is under 30, only two out of 646 Members in this House are under 30. That is not good enough in terms of representing this country.

I would go further. Much as people might turn to me, as the youngest MP, to be the voice for youth, I do not necessarily have my finger on the pulse. I could not tell people what was No. 1 in the charts.

-Simon Hughes (North Southwark & Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat)

It changed last week.

-Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire, Liberal Democrat)

My hon. Friend is clearly more on the ball than I am.

I think the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye (Michael Jabez Foster) made the point that the range of life experiences is important. Even as the youngest MP, I went to university before tuition fees came in, so I do not know what it is like to have to handle the additional burden of tuition fees and top-up fees. We should ensure that such experiences are represented in the House. Many other issues are also not being represented.

We need more young MPs. We all have a responsibility to encourage young people to stand for Parliament, much as there are advantages to the current system. I do not think I need any anti-wrinkle cream because if the good people of East Dunbartonshire continue to return me as their MP, by current standards I will be a young MP for the next 15 years. We have all heard the descriptions of somebody being a young MP at 40, which in any other walk of life would be approaching middle age.

Finally, for as long as people turn on the television, look at the House of Commons Chamber and see something totally unrepresentative of our society, be it in terms of age, gender, disability or the colour of people's skin, we will not manage to solve the problem of better participation. Addressing that must be a key part of the solution. Young people are passionate about political issues and we all have a responsibility to nurture their enthusiasm and open the doors for their participation.