My first blog...
This is my first ever blog. It wasn't easy for me to decide whether this was something I wanted to do but one thing that was an easy decision was the topic. Politics.
I have been interested in politics and current affairs since as long as I can remember. Throughout university as my knowledge of the different political landscapes started to grow, I knew that I wanted to work in politics full time.
Politics is something that I think younger people have been shy to engage in. Although there are plenty of young people getting involved in the youth divisions of political parties, charities and lobbying organisations, there are very few people engaged in the politics that happen on a daily basis. What I mean by this is that there are very few younger people up to date with the real time political events in their countries. I still get texts from my friends saying "can you explain to me what's going on?"
For me, politics is a hobby rather than something I have been forced into so I guess it is easy for me to say the things I am about to say but I do feel that it is important for young people to engage more with elections and discussions on political views. Election results, after all, are going to affect their future.
Take the EU referendum in the UK, the vast majority who supported the remain campaign were the younger generation. The official results breakdown of the referendum was 51.9% to leave and 48.1% to remain. For any election, referendum or general election, this vote was extremely close. The reason I am using this particular election as an example is because it was firstly, a shocking result for a lot of people and secondly, it shows that if young people had of voted in larger numbers, the UK might not be about to embark on its journey to leave the European Union.
I have been interested in politics and current affairs since as long as I can remember. Throughout university as my knowledge of the different political landscapes started to grow, I knew that I wanted to work in politics full time.
Politics is something that I think younger people have been shy to engage in. Although there are plenty of young people getting involved in the youth divisions of political parties, charities and lobbying organisations, there are very few people engaged in the politics that happen on a daily basis. What I mean by this is that there are very few younger people up to date with the real time political events in their countries. I still get texts from my friends saying "can you explain to me what's going on?"
For me, politics is a hobby rather than something I have been forced into so I guess it is easy for me to say the things I am about to say but I do feel that it is important for young people to engage more with elections and discussions on political views. Election results, after all, are going to affect their future.
Take the EU referendum in the UK, the vast majority who supported the remain campaign were the younger generation. The official results breakdown of the referendum was 51.9% to leave and 48.1% to remain. For any election, referendum or general election, this vote was extremely close. The reason I am using this particular election as an example is because it was firstly, a shocking result for a lot of people and secondly, it shows that if young people had of voted in larger numbers, the UK might not be about to embark on its journey to leave the European Union.
Let me explain. We have read over and over again that the younger generation in the UK mostly 18 - 24 year olds, voted to remain in the EU. To be more specific, according to the BBC 73% of 18 - 24 year olds voted remain. That means that only 27% of the younger generation voted to leave the European Union. If the result had of just been down to the younger generation and they had of actually engaged in the voting process, the UK would be a prominent member of the European Union for years to come.
Another fact which should be noted is that the UK Electoral Commission has confirmed that 3 out of ten 18 - 25 year olds are not registered to vote. This makes me wonder that if those individuals had of registered to vote, would the UK be about to embark on a journey where no one knows what lays ahead in terms of the economy, trade deals, travel and the future of EU citizens who currently live in the UK? It is a question 'remainers' probably do not even want to think about.
The EU referendum in the UK is just one example of how young voters did not get the result that they had hoped and mainly voted for. The reason this particular election is the one that I have focused on in this blog is because I believe that it is the one that is going to affect young people the most. When a general election happens, if you are not happy with the outcome, the political party who were voted into power are not going to be there forever but with this referendum, there is no going back. The UK will not be in able to join the EU again in a few years time.
Younger people should and need to have their voices heard. They should be able to discuss pressing issues which may have a massive impact on their futures. I am not sure what the answer is to encourage young people to get involved in those discussions but I think the issue needs to be discuss if there is ever going to be a solution.
The EU referendum in the UK is just one example of how young voters did not get the result that they had hoped and mainly voted for. The reason this particular election is the one that I have focused on in this blog is because I believe that it is the one that is going to affect young people the most. When a general election happens, if you are not happy with the outcome, the political party who were voted into power are not going to be there forever but with this referendum, there is no going back. The UK will not be in able to join the EU again in a few years time.
Younger people should and need to have their voices heard. They should be able to discuss pressing issues which may have a massive impact on their futures. I am not sure what the answer is to encourage young people to get involved in those discussions but I think the issue needs to be discuss if there is ever going to be a solution.
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