As part of his final year assessment at Bournemouth University, Jon Lloyd, a television and video production student, staged a mock election, called Youth Election 2001, in anticipation of the national poll this June. The aim of the project was to view the electoral process from a young person’s point of view. The campaigns and the election itself were filmed for a programme that would question the widespread belief that young people are apathetic about politics. And if they are indifferent, why should this be so?
The project was led by Jon Lloyd, as producer and director, working with a technical team of four and a production manager. There were also representatives promoting the campaign in universities across the country. The candidates were all members of their respective parties. Jon explained: “They are all very active – these guys are, quite literally, the politicians of the future. All of them are under 21 and they selected their own politically active campaign manager, again under 21.”
He continued: “We set up visits to schools and colleges where the candidates campaigned, met mayors and took part in radio broadcasts, reaching about 400,000 people. Our publicity and manifestos were printed in papers around the north-west, as well as being published on our website. Accommodation was provided as sponsorship by Jarvis Hotels and printing was paid for by Prontaprint. Each team had 3,000 A5 leaflets and 200 A3 posters with full manifestos and photos.
“We had a conference suite for the public debate on the last day too and teams were allowed 20 minutes worth of access to the internet each day. Any more was paid for out of their budgets, which were £200 each. The budget had to cover travel, additional literature and any promotions they wanted to do. We gave them a vehicle each, although the Tories managed to obtain a blue Espace with signwriting on especially for them – the small fee came out of their budget, the rest was footed by a Tory supporter.”
Voting took place over eight days, either over the internet for national voters or at various polling stations in Cheshire and the Wirral. Campaigns were concentrated in the north-west, says Jon Lloyd, “to achieve a more balanced result. By not staying in Bournemouth, which is a Conservative-Liberal stronghold, I think we got a better mix of opinion, not to mention a more telling result.” The election resulted in a Conservative victory with nearly 40% of the vote. Labour came second, after taking 37% of the poll, which was sponsored by VirginStudent.com, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 23%. Over 2,500 votes were cast.
Since the mock election Jon Lloyd and his activities have attracted further press interest, including from the Sunday Telegraph. Jon is now completing a television documentary on the project. Of the voters, 70 per cent of whom were aged under 25, Jon said, “they appreciated people talking to them, not at them, and about issues that concerned them. I feel that perceptions of youth apathy are misplaced – you just need to know how to get to them and what matters to them” – a lesson for all political parties.
