PETER (3rd year)

"Politics is my big thing that I do. I do a bit of politics all around, but mostly my work is in the UK for the Liberal Democrats. It has kind of changed a lot of my outlook on the world, not necessarily always for the best. It started when I was young, and while I was hearing a speech at a conference, I thought “Damn, this guy makes lots of sense.” I wasn’t really left-wing but also I’m not as right-wing as the conservatives, so this was my place to be. I joined at the age of 14, but it only started to work out for me when I was a bit older. It is interesting to see how older generations interact with younger people by trying to raise their interest in politics, especially in party dynamics. My party is very diverse which is something that I appreciate, but if you are working with the ideas of 60 years ago, you can’t hope to move forward easily. Something that I’m particularly passionate about is getting younger people elected, either at the municipal government, local areas, or on a national stage. This almost always changes the way that an organization works. I’m probably a bit unusual in that I am, in many ways, quite traditional, and I kind of value those older institutions. But I think for most people what has to be understood and what I think is the reason youth politics has such potential, is that young people are really great at turning out on the streets and marching, making big noise and occasionally really scaring the people in power. I believe that’s incredible. But what they are not good at is turning up three months later and putting an X in the box. And that’s a huge problem. I would like some more young people interested in party politics, because that, to me, is the way that you can really shape the agenda and make the politicians understand that young people are an important part of their career. I believe there are problems that are best solved in ways that are not currently being solved, to put it simply. That to me means working in a party, whether that’s the one I’m in now, or whether the one I’m in now will exist in 10 years. Things are changing fast, and I find this exciting. I’m ready to embrace that." (Peter, 3rd year, Hampshire)