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With local elections coming up, Katie-May Nelson speaks to two youngsters who have made the unusual choice to try and become councillors while in their early 20s.
We are overwhelmingly represented by councillors who are retirees who decided they wanted to do something in later years to give back to the community.
The Local Government Association’s councillor census published last year shows the average age of a councillor is 60, with just 16% under 45.
Furthermore, 40% of councillors in the UK are retired and the vast majority are white (92%) and male (59%).
Just looking at the current make-up of Medway Council, seven of the 10 cabinet members are white males over 50, and just 11% of all councillors are from BAME backgrounds. Just over a third are women.
“A lot of people first of all are quite surprised when I say to them I am the candidate for Strood North and Frindsbury, they have a bit of a shock because some people can’t quite believe there is someone this young, which is to be expected,” says Craig Liddell, who is 21.
Between the two main groups on Medway Council, Conservative and Labour, a number of senior councillors are stepping down, meaning around 230 years of political experience is being lost.
But the ruling Conservative Group has put forward a small number of candidates under the age of 25 like Craig.
He’s joined by George Perfect, who is running in Rainham North and is a former chairman of the Medway Youth Council.
The 22-year-old, who was also a member of the UK Youth Parliament, said: “For me, it’s always been about that interest in community and local politics, but also being a young person involved in politics nationally, you get that opportunity to really raise issues and concerns that people have.
“That’s always been what I have been interested in and that’s grown and developed throughout my time in the youth council and university.”
For Craig, who had been head boy of Strood Academy, his inspiration to get involved in politics came from his former politics teacher Tristan Osborne, who happens to be a Labour councillor.
He explained: “Even though we’re on different sides of the political spectrum, he was one of the inspirations that got me into the Youth Council and therefore got me more interested in local politics, as well.
“With the Youth Council, it’s having that ability and being given the opportunity to do good.
“There’s probably lots of young people out there who want to do the same, but just don’t feel that they have the opportunity or the avenue to go and do it, and that was one of the things I think is quite special about the Youth Council, especially in Medway.
“I met Kelly Tolhurst when I was in Year 11 and we’ve kept in contact ever since.
“She’s definitely someone who has always supported me and tried her best to encourage me to go into local politics.
“But also, the Conservative Association as well. Don’t get me wrong, for any young person it is absolutely daunting going into a political meeting because no matter what party you’re in, you are by far going to be the youngest person in that room by 20 or 30 years.
“It’s that initial barrier that I think stops a lot of people, but once you go to your first couple of meetings, and you get to know the people. I mean, I’ve been supported 100% of the way by my local association, and that’s just made it easier.”
With the Conservative Party nationally taking a hit in opinion polls, both candidates want their campaigns to focus on what they can do locally.
Craig explained: “Obviously the national picture is a challenge as you can imagine, but we are really fighting the campaign locally and we’ve made a real effort to make sure all of our candidates are local to the ward because we think that’s a really important thing for residents.”
George, who went to The Robert Napier School, said he got interested in the party during the 2016 EU Referendum.
“Theresa May was the Prime Minister and I was particularly interested in some of the visions she pushed forward. I see myself as a One Nation Conservative.
“There have been challenges in terms of the national picture for the party, you’d be blind if you didn’t see that, but focussing on national issues, it’s positive in terms of the leadership of the council.”
Craig added: “If I look plain and simply of the Conservatism, conservatism, which, most of all, is ‘opportunity is choice’, and that to me, is one of my most important principles and politics.
“I believe more in Conservative economics than I do Labour economics but saying that, I don’t like to use labels; some people will call themselves a certain kind of Conservative or whatever, fundamentally, I believe in what I think works.
“I feel like sometimes people box themselves too much in what a Conservative is and what being Labour is, what being a Lib Dem is; obviously you have to have some of the core principles, that’s why you support the party, but ultimately when it comes to Medway and when it comes to nationally as well, I am someone who is happy to work with whoever to make sure that good things happen for residents.
“I hope George and I can potentially be role models for others to show that younger people can get into politics, especially in a place like Medway where, facing the facts, if you look at the demographics of the council today, it’s pretty stark in comparison to other areas of the country.
“I hope that at least standing is the start of a new beginning and there will be more fresh individuals who will come through, and I hope that’s the case for all political parties.
“I think there’s quite a few people in Medway who have kind of fallen into a kind of decline-ism where they don’t think Medway’s ever going to get any better, but that’s that’s the narrative that I hope I can try and change while still being frank with people about some challenges as well.
“I get some flack on Twitter sometimes for always going on about Medway whenever possible, but it is true that I don’t see anyone else – especially on the kind of political side of Medway – really making any case for the good things about it.
“I work at the University of Kent and that’s a real highlight of Medway; we have got three universities on one campus and not many places in the country as a whole have one university, so especially in education, there’s so much opportunity within Medway.”
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