There has been much concern over the low turnout in the recent local elections. With less than 40% of those eligible to vote doing so in last week’s local elections the fears seem real enough; but what is the reason? Many sight apathy, a lack of engagement, particularly they say amongst the young. But why could that be?

Commons Speaker John Bercow claims voters feel let down by mainstream political parties because they have not got what they voted for. Fair enough if one has voted for something specific and then the party doesn’t stick to its agreement (remember tuition fees?) but my guess is that in the 18-20 year olds the reasons are more subtle than this.

I think that there’s a lack of personal engagement with politicians (local and national) and in particular with the leaders of the main parties. In our School children are taught to respect the views of other people. We go to great length to teach trust, dignity, the importance of speaking truth to power and the importance of listening as part of the debating process. We teach that through discussion and debate it is possible to affect someone’s views. So what, when they are starting to take a real interest in politics do they see? Trust? Reasoned debate and discussion? Cooperative and collaborative development of ideas and policy? No, what they see is people shouting at each other in an aggressive and combative environment based on feudal systems of the past. They see politicians behaving in a way that would never be tolerated in any aspect of School life. Yes, we have debate and we have a healthy system of self government but none of us would ever allow the debate and discussion to drop to the acrimonious level display in Council chambers and the House of Commons.

When I see political debate I am often left cringing. Not just at the national debate but also at the local level. Here in Letchworth there has been much debate about local/town councils and the relationship between elected officers and the people. The debate in itself is of course healthy. The unpleasant and sometimes vitriolic way in which it’s carried out is an embarrassment and sets an appalling example to the young.

So, the low turnout. Apathy? I think not. Disillusionment more like. I think that our young adults are well educated and as such are totally turned off engaging in politics. What they see is what they consider to be a bunch of ‘posh people’ being rude to each other. Not listening to each other - just behaving appallingly. Just the sort of thing good schools teach them to stay well away from.

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