On and off campus, politicians are viewed as dishonest and complacent, and because many young people feel they do not have a voice, they give up trying to get people to listen.
Conservative Party Central Office has a different view, arguing that Britain’s youth have the same aspirations as their parents: good jobs, low taxes and their own homes. As far as Central Office is concerned, political apathy in young people is not a major problem. Yet a recent British Youth Council survey found that only 23 per cent of young people feel they belong to a community, compared to 42 per cent of adults. Could it be that figures like these, combined with the low level of young voter turn-out, have convinced some political campaigners that the young vote is just not worth chasing?The Labour party appears to be more willing to single out issues that are likely to attract young people Tony Blair has made a point of campaigning to young people. Some relevant policy pledges also appear to be in place: a pledge to bring 250,000 young people off benefits and into work, training for all 16-to-17-year-olds, relaxation of the rules on benefits for students, and the establishment of an environmental “task force”.And Labour’s message has proved to be reasonably persuasive with young people.

Membership of Young Labour has doubled in the last 18 months, to 28,000. By contrast, the Young Conservatives, whose numbers massed at around 100,000 in the Fifties, have now dwindled to 5,000.Furthermore, Labour appears to be making a greater effort to appeal to young people than the Conservatives do. Blur’s Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher from Oasis have pledged their support for Labour, Gallagher going so far as to say (at the Brit awards last year): “There’s only seven people doing good for this country: the five members of Oasis, Alan McGee and Tony Blair.”The Labour leader presented one of the Brit Awards and, though he looked somewhat out of place in a room full of pop stars, Labour’s public relations team must have been well satisfied. Probably less satisfying to them were Gallagher’s recent comments on drug use.

The ensuing debate has provided an example of an issue upon which many young people’s views are at the opposite end of the spectrum from those of most MPs.Given that party decisions about election strategy are rarely decided by 18-25s, being wooed by a political party is likely to remain almost as embarrassing as taking your father to a night-club. The Liberal Democrats are a case in point; they have a good history of awareness of “youth issues”, especially on education. Yet their “youth” campaign literature makes as many pratfalls as techno-Dad, with the latest offering presenting young Liberal Democrats in classic poses from the Trainspotting movie poster. They may be the only party courageous enough even to utter the word “decriminalisation”, but the Lib Dems’ (presumably unintentional) message to culturally-aware young people is: “vote Lib Dem – the party of the heroin subculture”.