We have recently had a number of people asked us why we are campaigning for a young mayor and questioning why it should replace current engagement methods that are already engaging with young
people.

The truth is that a young mayor shouldn’t replace current ways of youth engagement, but should act as a way of supporting them.  The sad fact is that many young people are unaware of ways they can engage in politics or even worse they have thoughts they would love to share but don’t feel they will be listened to. A young mayor can help bridge this gap and provide a voice for young people. They can listen to young people already engaged in politics but even more importantly they can provide a voice for people who aren’t. They are the voice of young people, chosen by young people.

But our campaign goes beyond lobbying for a young mayor in Birmingham….

 
We want to highlight the thoughts and opinions of young people across Birmingham to understand why they feel the way they do and how they want to see things changed.  Who better to tell us why things need to change, if indeed they do, than young people themselves?

Often the problem isn’t that young people don’t want to engage, it’s that they don’t know how, unless you are exposed to the different options open to you, and given the confidence to get involved, how can you give your views?

That’s why our campaign is based on 3 key aims in order to encourage youth engagement in Birmingham:

•       To raise awareness of the different ways young people can engage
with politics.

•       To highlight the issues and concerns young people currently have in
regards to both the quality of services they receive and the
leadership of Birmingham

•       To support new ways for young people to work with the leaders of
Birmingham to provide a voice for young people

We have a number of projects and objectives lined up to help us meet these aims, and will be working closely with organisations who are already doing great work in helping young people have a voice. Our first mini project will also be launching very soon!

Link

Just a few short hours ago the results of the Birmingham Mayoral referendum were announced: 58% voted no, 42% voted yes.

When I saw the Birmingham Mayoral referendum results I was a bit disappointed. At first it was because I was a Yes voter and I really felt that a great opportunity had been missed by the city. But I was ready to doff my cap to democracy, accept the opinions of the masses outweigh my own and move on. Until I saw the voter turnout: 29%.

This referendum represented the single biggest potential change to the way the city is run for decades and 71% of the population weren’t sufficiently interested enough to vote, or even spoil their ballots. Over the centuries countless men and women have laid down their lives for the right to vote. Democracy is an incredible thing but when less than a third of the population are voting it’s a sign that something is wrong and that something desperately needs to be done to get the public engaging in politics again. This is one great big reason why we believe we need a Young Mayor system in Birmingham.

Properly supported and properly teamed with education on what local politics consists of (a dull grey area for most people I know, even those who are interested in politics) a Young Mayor represents a fantastic way to get young people caring again and carry on that engagement into adult life, something this figure shows we desperately need.

One excellent thing has emerged from the aftermath of the local election and referendum results though: the announcement of a council funded commission into a Young/Youth Mayor*. When we started talking about this campaign a couple of months ago hardly anyone in Birmingham knew what a Young Mayor was so it’s great to hear that the idea is taking hold. We really want a properly supported Young Mayor scheme to happen and now we’re not going to have an elected mayor and it’ll be the council’s decision, this commission could be a great way to get them talking about it.

Now to return to the issue of voter turnout; an individual’s right to vote used to be something that people fought passionately to be able to do, now most of us won’t cross the road to use it. Let’s get things moving again. Spread the word: Yes to a Birmingham Young Mayor.

*To clarify the semantic quibble, some existing systems are called Youth Mayors (e.g. in Cheshire East, Ealing, Mansfield), some Young Mayors (e.g. Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets) because the strongest models, such as Lewisham’s, are called Young Mayors we decided to do away with the ‘/Youth’ and stick with ‘Yes to a Birmingham Young Mayor’…it’s also much catchier than the ‘Young/Youth’ alternative! Call it what you will though, if it’s a properly supported and implemented system, we want it.

Hosted by a Warwick Commission Researcher and KPMG’s very own Director of Infrastructure, Government & Healthcare, Performance & Advisory, John Atkinson the young people seated in the KPMG meeting room, all aged 19-25 had an attentive audience. When asked what things an elected Mayor should address, the responses all suggested that there is much thought to be wrong with Birmingham’s infrastructure. It was raised that a North/South divide exists primarily because of poor cross city transportation links and also that bus service times on the whole do not adequately meet people’s needs as a reduced service begins far too early in the evening. This I must say saddened me because as someone who has actively chosen to relocate to Birmingham I honestly have a special place in my heart for the city and to hear so many young voices of a second city in a developed country have such a problem with such an imperative marker of a regions state of development is a crying shame.

Other opinions arising include the belief that Birmingham at present does not have an identifiable face in the UK, suffering largely from poor business and financial investment. The overall consensus being that if the profile of Birmingham is to be raised then something needs to be done to attract outside interest in the city, this would help to retain home-grown talent as well as capture those actively choosing to stay in the city after graduation. So can a Mayoral elect provide strong, effective, transparent leadership in these times of austerity? Or is it simply a bureaucratic smoke screen? What types of qualities should the candidate have and whose interests should be their primary concern? Similar questions are being asked about any potential Young Mayor that might come from a yes vote this week. I will honestly put my hands up and say I don’t have all the answers, but what I do know is that an outcome in favour of a mayoral elect is a positive step forward whilst we all continue in our debate on how to make Birmingham an altogether better City for all.

One of the questions we’ve had a lot lately is why we are campaigning for a Young Mayor in the 13-17 age category. To be honest when we first started looking into campaigning for a Birmingham Young Mayor many of us initially imagined someone older. We thought someone, say 18-21 or possibly even 18-25 would be the best bet for giving the young people of this city a strong voice. Many hours of research later we pretty much unanimously agreed that the existing Young Mayor models had got it right by operating in an working in under 18 age categories. This is why:

1)      Under 18’s aren’t currently represented in UK politics

In the UK there are already many mechanisms in place allowing over 18 year olds a chance to get their voices heard. Once we turn 18 we can vote and put ourselves up for election. And people do. Former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy, for instance, was first elected as an MP at just 23. Just last year 18 year old Tom Bletsoe (of St Ives South) became the UK’s youngest Councillor. If young people really want to they can already get involved in local politics once they turn 18…but only those who are already highly engaged in local politics do. The same applies for initiatives such as Youth Parliament and Youth Councils (although to the best of my knowledge Birmingham does not have a Youth Council). They are fantastic initiatives but not well known enough, or powerful enough, to truly have a visible effect on local policy. Young people need something new.

2)      It encourages engagement in a way that’s relevant to young people

Most under 18’s are not actively engaged in politics. I’m 21, I studied politics at A Level and I have only just really started to care about local politics and what it means to my community over the last year or so. Why? Because all I learnt about at school seemed to be electoral systems, QUANGOs and historic pieces of legislation. I wanted to care but, quite frankly, politics couldn’t have seemed any more irrelevant to me. I care now because I was lucky enough to hear about and apply for a place on a leadership programme that encourages participants to become actively involved in the local political field. Most people aren’t so lucky. That’s why we think we need to bring something to young people while they are still in schools that is not just about them, but for them.

3)      The system works

Another reason we abandoned the idea of doing something new and campaigning for an over 18 age range is the concern that it would just recreate exiting patterns of leadership…but in younger people. We thought about how voting would work when opened up to the public and realised that organising adult elections in which only a certain age range could vote, including some under 18′s, would be costly and result, for the most part, in only politically engaged individuals standing and voting. Just like in adult mayoral elections. We want people who aren’t already involved to care and we think bringing it to schools/other under 18’s by postal and online voting is the way to do it.

4)      They will truly be a Young Mayor

It’s an unfortunate fact of British society that much of your future depends on who you are at 15. If at 15 you are angry with the world around you, feel disconnected from your school and flippant about your education you are unlikely to get good GCSE’s and go on to A-Levels or college or university. Most of the people I know who failed then are still failing now. Some have moved on, found jobs that suit them and got their lives together. Too many have fallen through the cracks of society. Having a Young Mayor and their extended team in the 13-17 year old age bracket would provide local politics with someone who is actually experiencing what it is that their classmates are reacting to. As Lee Marsham, one of our campaign team, put it ‘I’m 22 and I don’t feel young’. Throughout our city’s history there’s been far too much of older people guessing what it is that under 18’s want and need. Let’s stop guessing and let them decide.