Final Project Report 2015-6

Andrew Mycock, Phillip Buck, Simon Campbell-Skelling, Mashuda Shaikh, and Emily Broome

Executive Summary

‘My Country My Vote’ (MCMV) is a project designed and coordinated by Kirklees Council and the University of Huddersfield. It is a collaborative venture involving Mashuda Shaikh and Simon Campbell-Skelling from Kirklees Council’s Heritage and Education team, Michelle Ross from the Kirklees Young People's Voice and Influence team, Kirklees Youth Council and Dr Andrew Mycock, an expert in youth democratic engagement and participation who was part of the UK government-sponsored Youth Citizenship Commission (2008-9). It is a collaborative project which has involved a range of local and national stakeholders including Kirklees Youth Council, Kirklees Council Electoral Services, the University of Huddersfield Students’ Union and Politics students, the Political Studies Association, the UK Parliamentary Education Service, and the Economic and Social Research Council. It has been supported by local MPs and councillors from across the Kirklees region.

The My Country, My Vote project has had two iterations so far – the first in 2013-4 and the second in 2015-6. Both pilots have sought to highlight the importance of the democratic process by fostering democratic networking, peer-to-peer debate and encouraging young people to understand how they can effect change in their schools and local communities. The focus on local youth citizenship reflects the centrality of locality in framing young peoples’ civic viewfinder and personal and collective identities.

The project has sought to connect with existing Citizenship Education provision in schools to help address democratic apathy amongst young people in Kirklees by encouraging engagement with local issues. By raising awareness of the legitimate ways in which young people can express interest in and effect change in their schools and local communities, the project also sought to supplement existing Prevent initiatives by offering them alternatives to more radical methods of expressing dissatisfaction that they may encounter.

MCMV 2015-6 was developed to engage with at least three central government policy areas:

• The enhancement of youth political literacy, skills, and experience to encourage life-long engagement and participation in local and national democracy

• The increase of levels of electoral registration and voting amongst young voters

• The building community cohesion and appreciation of British values amongst young people through democratic participation

Pupils from three schools in Kirklees participated in the project, working with Politics students Emily Broome and Phillip Buck from the University of Huddersfield and youth councillors representing the Kirklees Youth Council to develop issue-based campaigns (full details of the project are provided in the main part of this report). During the process of campaign design and electioneering, three key themes emerged which appeared to strongly influence the attitudes of young people in terms of how they understood youth citizenship, democratic engagement, and political participation.

1) Networked Citizens: ‘We want to be seen and heard’

Although the vast majority of young people participating in the project described themselves as interested in politics, most were also certain in their belief that they were deliberately overlooked by politicians and political parties, had little say in how the country was governed, and were offered few opportunities to influence policy-makers. Our project evaluation detected a worrying lack of faith amongst the participants in existing political structures, institutions and elected representatives to appreciate or accommodate the interests and aspirations of young people. Many young people

indicated that formal politics felt abstract and distant, with little resonance or impact on their daily lives. The young participants concluded that they wanted policy-makers to consult with them to co-design democratic structures which connected school, further and higher education, and community youth representative bodies with the local youth council, local authority, and local Westminster MPs.

2) School Surgeries: ‘Come to our schools and talk to us’

When asked what political parties could do to better connect and represent young people, respondents were clear that MPs and local councillors must take greater interest and engage with them on a sustained basis to build political trust. Many participants sought to establish dialogue with elected national and local politicians. While social media and other digital initiatives were seen as important supplemental forms of communication, many young participants were clear that they wanted regular personal contact to build political trust and dialogue. Many saw elected representatives as having a dual representative and educative role in their local community and in encouraging the transition of young people to becoming life-long democratically informed, engaged and participative citizens. The participants concluded that elected representatives should visit visits schools and colleges regularly to hold ‘school surgeries’ to build trust and enhance connectivity between the political system and young people.

3) Informed Citizens: ‘I learnt a lot about politics which I didn’t know before’

One area of particular concern amongst the young participants was their self-reported lack of political literacy. This was reflected in our survey which highlighted that, beyond some basic understanding of who was in power in Westminster, many participants lacked of detailed political knowledge. Few were aware that they had regular Citizenship Education or that school-based lessons had improved their knowledge and understanding of politics. Moreover, a majority felt that they were denied sufficient opportunities to discuss current affairs or wider political issues, particularly in their schools. The participants concluded that they would like dedicated democratic education which focused on developing political knowledge, skills, and experiences in their schools and local communities.

Where Next? Supporting My Country, My Vote

Overall, it is clear that taking part in the project had a positive impact in terms of developing the interest and engagement of participants in engaging and participating in democratic politics. Respondents reported tangible positive shifts in attitudes towards political participation in terms of a more optimistic view of their democratic efficacy. This in part was connected with a self-reported rise in levels of political knowledge required to understand, engage and participate in debates and decision-making in their schools and local communities. This was linked to greater confidence in their civic abilities and an enhanced sense of personal and collective empowerment, with participants noting that they felt better about themselves and enjoyed meeting and working with pupils from other schools and communities.

This noted, My Country, My Vote 2013-4 and 2015-6 have been undertaken with minimal resources, largely being funded by Kirklees Council and the University of Huddersfield who both kindly allocated time for the project team to organise and evaluate the project. This situation is not sustainable in the long term. The two iterations of the project offer strong evidence-based proposals regarding the development of a coherent programme of democratic learning and experience for young people. We therefore urge national and local policy-makers to support the further development of My Country, My Vote through their advocacy and appropriate resourcing.

My Country, My Vote 2013-4: An Overview

The MCMV project was designed initially as a response to voter irregularities within certain electoral wards in Kirklees, with a pilot undertaken by the project partners in 2013-4. This pilot involved three schools from across Kirklees within targeted priority areas in terms of social and community composition - Batley Girls High School, Batley, Westborough High School, Dewsbury, and Moor End Academy in Huddersfield. Young people from the participating schools were then placed in teams and given the opportunity to design and deliver their own campaigns within their own schools.

The project framework supporting the young people during the campaign and election cycle was delivered in four stages:

1) A MCMV project induction conference was held on the main campus of the University of Huddersfield for participating schools. The induction day provided a series of democratic education workshops and training on how to run a successful political campaign which were delivered by Politics staff and students, the University Students’ Union, Kirklees Youth Council, and the Political Studies Association.

2) A series of school-based workshops were delivered by the UK Parliament Education Service on how our parliamentary system operates and the importance of voting.

3) School visits by local MPs and/or councillors to host Q and A sessions in each school.

4) School-based workshops delivered by University of Huddersfield Politics students on themes of political communication and campaigning.

The pupils were asked to select their campaign themes from the UK Youth Parliament ‘Make Your Mark’ shortlist which focused on a range issues including better work experience programmes, improving youth services, raising the national minimum wage in line with the living wage, and lowering the voting age. The young people in each team campaigned in elections hosted on their respective school campuses during ‘My Country, My Vote’ week. Elections were held in during May 2014 in each school.

The winning teams in each school were invited to a MCMV award ceremony which was held at the Al-Hikmah Centre Batley. The young participants provided presentations about their winning campaigns and spoke about their participation in MCMV, with local councillors, and other dignitaries

in attendance. The young people were also invited down to Westminster to meet with their respective Members of Parliament and take a tour of the House of Commons. Finally, participants took part in a ‘Question Time’ event held at Dewsbury Town Hall as part of ‘Parliament Week’ with local politicians and civil society leaders.

Feedback from the young people was positive about the pilot project, with many participants reporting that the experience of taking part in the campaigns had enhanced their democratic literacy and skills. Many young people noted a greater interest in reading about politics via social media, newspapers or on television. Moreover, most young people expressed greater preparedness to democratically engage and an increased likelihood to participate in local and national politics. Furthermore, teachers from the participating schools were also positive about project contribution to citizenship education. They noted that the young people had benefited from mixing and engaging with pupils from their own and other schools. They also noted strong engagement of other pupils during the ‘My Country, My Vote’ campaign week and election turnouts of over 60% were reported in each school. Finally, the teachers noted that the peer-to-peer element of project had benefitted young people who were not part of the campaign teams and that debates about democracy and politics had increased both in the classroom and during school assemblies.

There were though a number of limitations of the first MCMV pilot. First, and crucially, the pilot lacked a developed research analytical framework to assess the impact of participation on young people involved. Second, the young people tended to focus on national rather than local community or school issues. This often made campaigning somewhat abstract and limited in terms youth agency and outcome. Finally, the links between the campaigns and the Kirklees Youth Council and the University’s Students’ Union were under-developed, meaning that the young people taking part in schools were not able to develop networks of participation with key youth engagement institutions. One area we overlooked completely was the impact of taking part in MCMV 2013-4 was that on the university students, who also noted an increased confidence and awareness of their own citizenship responsibilities.

My Country, My Vote 2015-6: Project Overview

The second MCMV pilot project drew on the experiences and best practice of MCMV 2013-4 but sought to provide a more comprehensive programme of education, training, and experiences for the young people taking part. It ran between November 2015 and May 2016 involving three schools across Kirklees - Westborough High School (Dewsbury), Upper Batley High School (Batley), and All Saints Catholic College (Huddersfield). This iteration of the project involved a number of new project partners, and sought to embed a greater emphasis on digital democracy and develop a greater analytical research focus through an evaluation by researchers at the University of Huddersfield to provide data on the impact of participation in the project. The second MCMV pilot involved three distinct and interconnected phases:

Phase One:

An initial event hosted at the University of Huddersfield in November 2015 (generously funded by the ESRC as part of their Festival of Social Science), in collaboration with Kirklees Council and Kirklees Youth Council.

Dr Andy Mycock opens the ‘My Country, My Vote’ event hosted at the University of Huddersfield (November 2015)

The event included contributions from The Politics Project (a democratic education social enterprise based in Manchester), Kirklees Council Electoral Services, and Politics academics and undergraduate students from the University of Huddersfield. The young people participated in a series of workshops to encourage the development of youth citizenship skills and knowledge to allow them to conduct campaigns in their schools focused on local issues.

Phase Two:

Young people in schools formed teams and decided on an issue to campaign on. They were visited by the UK Parliamentary Education Service who provided a series of lessons at participating schools focusing on policy-making and electoral politics in Westminster. Each of the participating schools was also visited by a local or national politician who discussed their own experiences and the developing campaigns.

Colne Valley MP, Jason McCartney, meets young people participating in My Country, My Vote.

Finally, Politics students from the University of Huddersfield provided sessions at each school on how to design and run election campaigns. These sessions were co-designed with Politics academics and the Students’ Union from the University and drew on the knowledge, skills, and experiences of Politics students in developing their own campaigns.

Phase Three:

Each of the schools held a week long election campaign where competing teams engaged with their fellow pupils and promoted their policy proposals through a range of innovative election campaigns. The teams developed a range of campaign themes including a bursary fund to support young people

in accessing further and higher education, improved work experience provision in schools, increased minimum wage for young people, an improved staff/ security presence at Cow Nest Park in Dewsbury to make young people feel safer to use it, more careers advice and support in school, and a fitness programme for young people in schools. A vote was held in each school with over 1,000 fellow pupils taking part in election and one policy proposal was chosen by their fellow pupils.

The winning campaigns from each school were as follows:

Westborough High School (Dewsbury): ‘Wheels 4 Schools’ - a campaign to get travel fare concessions for local young people

Upper Batley High School (Batley): ‘Our Lockers’ - a campaign to re-introduce school lockers back into school

All Saints Catholic College (Huddersfield): ‘Spend with a Friend Campaign’ - a campaign to encourage more youth orientated businesses to open in Huddersfield town centre

A celebration event was hosted in May 2016 in Dewsbury Town Hall for the winning campaign teams from each school where young people presented their policies to local councillors with local MPs, councillors, and other dignitaries.

Dewsbury MP, Paula Sheriff, meets some of the young participants at the ‘My Country, My Vote’ celebration event held at Dewsbury Town Hall in May 2016.

My Country, My Vote 2015-6: Project Evaluation

Evaluation of the second iteration of My County, My Vote sought to assess democratic literacy and changes in attitudes amongst participants over the course of the project in terms of political engagement and participation, community cohesion and British values. Politics academic and student researchers from the University of Huddersfield adopted a ‘mixed methods’ approach to evaluating the project. This involved the design and implementation of both quantitative and qualitative research methods involving repetitive surveys at the beginning and end of the project and semi-structured interviews with participants at its mid-point. Data produced from these research activities was cognitively analysed during the project and informed its development.

Overall, 60 young people from the three schools took part in the project, although 5 participants did not complete the second or final assessment. The number of participants were not statistically rigorous in terms of their sample size or representative in relationship to the population of young people in Kirklees. They were however almost even in terms of gender representation and strongly reflected the diverse ethnicity composition of the pupil communities in each school. The following evaluation thus provides a rich snapshot of the views and issues underpinning the development of an engaged and knowledgeable generation of citizens in Kirklees.

The following evaluation reflects the three distinct and interconnected phases of the My Country, My Vote project (datasets for the evaluation are provided at the end of this report):

Phase One: Engaged Cynics

During the first engagement event held at the University of Huddersfield, the young participants were asked to complete a standardised survey and take part in some semi-structured qualitative interviews. The overriding attitude amongst the young people was a sense of engaged cynicism and lack of trust in the UK’s political system at national and local level. Although the vast majority of young people described themselves as interested in politics, most were also certain in their belief that they were overlooked by politicians and political parties, had little say in how the country was governed, and few opportunities influence policy-makers. Of more concern was the shared perception of an institutional disconnect between Westminster, Kirklees Council, and young people in their schools and local communities. Put simply, our initial evaluation detected a worrying lack of

faith amongst the participants for existing political structures, institutions and elected representatives to appreciate or accommodate the interests and aspirations of young people.

The responses were not wholly pessimistic though. The young respondents did not advocate for an alternative to representative democracy; they were however keen to improve the transparency of and access to decision-making. A clear majority of young participants were positive about politics and sought to be more involved and connected. Those surveyed supported orthodox forms of democratic engagement and participation, and do not seek a paradigm shift in how it is organised. The vast majority expressed an intention to vote in general and local elections when able to do so, and supported the proposition that elections made political parties and politicians more accountable and responsive to citizens. They were though considerably less keen to join a political party, and expressed mistrust both in their honesty and accountability once in power. Over two-thirds believed that political parties were not interested in young people who cannot vote and virtually none of the respondents identified them as a source of political information.

One area of particular concern amongst the young participants was their lack of political literacy. This was reflected in our survey which highlighted beyond some basic understanding of who was in power in Westminster that many respondents lacked of detailed political knowledge. Two-thirds were unaware that they had regular Citizenship Education and less than one-third believed that Citizenship Education at school had improved their knowledge and understanding of politics. Moreover, a majority felt that they were denied sufficient opportunities to discuss current affairs or wider political issues while only one-third of young people thought Citizenship Education was a source of information about politics.

It is evident though that those surveyed had a reliance on a wide range of media sources for information on political issues but were also distrustful of many of those sources. While many engaged with ‘traditional’ forms of political reportage via the printed press and television news, they displayed a scepticism concerning their reliability. Family and friends were identified by just over half the respondents as important sources of information about politics, but the wider community was not seen a good source.

The internet was thus seen as the principle alternative, though its reliability as source of political knowledge was also open to question. In interviews, some respondents noted that they did not feel confident to assess the reliability of news due to a lack of appropriate guidance in school. When interviewed, many encouraged that greater use of new technologies as an avenue to enhance engagement of young people in the democratic process, particularly in garnering of their opinions of issues which affect or a pertinent to them. Moreover a common proposition was that politicians and policy-makers need to use social media and the internet in provide information about democracy and contemporary affairs.

When asked how the political system could be reformed, many advocated for the reduction of the voting age. However, most young participants were sure that they did not necessarily need to be able to vote in mainstream elections to effect change in their schools and local communities. About half of the young participants were keen to engage with or participate in youth-focused representative structures such as school and youth councils. However two-thirds of respondents were unsure how get things changed in their local community and more than half were unsure how to sign on the electoral register.

When asked what political parties could do to better connect and represent young people, respondents were clear that MPs and local councillors must take greater interest and engage with

them on a sustained basis to build political trust. Many suggested that elected representatives should visit visits schools and colleges regularly to hold ‘constituency surgeries’ to build trust and enhance connectivity between the political system and young people. For example, one (possibly too honest) respondent noted that this meant politicians ‘could actually listen to the young peoples’ views no matter how daft they are’.

Finally, when the young people were asked what was the single most important issue for them, most respondents identified issues linked to their own experiences. As such, issues linked to the availability of youth services, the form and content of education (GCSEs and school transport in particular), and higher education tuition fees were most popular. However a number identified social issues such as homelessness, health care provision, and immigration as salient.

Phase Two: A Thirst for Knowledge

The Parliamentary Education Service visited the campaign teams in each school to provide sessions which linked with the core themes of the My Country, My Vote project. The sessions focused on the constitutional history of the UK parliament, and the processes informing policy-making within Westminster, elections and voting, and party political campaigning. The campaign teams were provided with resources to support democratic learning and the development of applied civic skills.

When surveyed, all 55 pupils who took part in the sessions reported that they felt more positive about and had learnt something new about politics. In interviews, a significant number of young participants noted that they had known little about how the UK parliament worked, or how it was accountable to the general public prior to the session. The participants indicated that the sessions given them a better understanding of parliamentary decision-making, and what were the current salient political issues. Most importantly, it had stimulated a desire among nearly all of the pupils to learn more about politics and to vote. There were though some issues we identified in the first evaluation of the cohort that endured, such as a widespread uncertainty about the language used by politicians and a desire to join a political party.

When participants were asked to identify particular things they had learnt which were of interest to them, many of them drew attention to the differences between the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords. As one Westborough pupil noted, ‘the (House of) Lords aren’t chosen by normal people’. Other highlighted the public access to Westminster, with one All Saints pupil commenting ‘I learnt that the houses of Parliament are open to the public’ while a Westborough pupil noted ‘the Houses of parliament are publicly owned and you can watch debates’. There was also a greater appreciation for the challenges of politicians and political parties, such as this Upper Batley pupil who observed the session he attended had increased his appreciation ‘that hard decisions have to be made’

The educative element of these sessions was not limited to increasing democratic literacy in terms of the Houses of Parliament, and a number of pupils commented on their increased awareness of party politics and elections. For example, one Upper Batley pupil noted ‘I learnt about what goes on, there are many campaigning ideas and ways’ while another stated ‘there are a lot of ways of campaigning that I did not know but now I have better knowledge’. A pupil from All Saints linked this to her better understanding of ‘how to be voted in’. For some though, the revelation during the sessions that ‘16 year olds can drive mopeds’ appeared to excite them most!

When we asked which political issues the young participants would have liked to learn about today but which was not discussed, a number of themes emerged. First, a significant number noted that they would like to ‘learn more about the history of politics’. It was clear in follow-up interviews that

many young pupils participating in the programme had little understanding of British constitutional history as their school did not teach this in any significant depth. Second, some were curious, as one Westborough pupil noted, ‘to know more about what the Queen does’. Finally, some participants asked for more information on ‘how hard it is to be a politician’.

Phase Three: Optimistic Citizens

During the final celebration event held at Dewsbury town hall, the young participants were asked once again to complete the standardised survey and take part in final semi-structured qualitative interviews. It was clear that participating in the project had had a positive impact in terms of their interest and engagement with democratic politics. Respondents reported tangible shifts in attitudes towards political participation in terms of a more optimistic view of the efficacy of those who had taken part in the project. This in part was connected with a self-reported rise in levels of political knowledge required to understand, engage and participate in debates and decision-making in their schools and local communities. This was linked to greater confidence in their civic abilities and an enhanced sense of personal and collective empowerment of the young people, with participants noting that they felt better about themselves and enjoyed meeting pupils from other schools and communities.

Such optimism was evidenced in a shift in attitudes towards democratic engagement and participation, with a greater number of young people expressing a willingness to join a political party or campaign group. Many more of the participants stated that they trusted political parties more and believed that they are interested in young people’s lives and sought to change them for the better. Moreover, there were tangible shifts in attitudes in terms of a greater belief that MPs and councillors served citizens and not their own interests. Connectivity with elected representatives also appeared to have been enhanced through participation in the project, with nearly over three-quarters of participants confirming that they would contact their local MP or councillor.

Participant attitudes towards participation in elections also appeared to strengthen during this iteration of My Country, My Vote. This was evidenced through an increase in young people who supported the proposition that voting was a civic duty, confirmed they now knew how to sign on the electoral register, and also expressed a greater preparedness to vote (particularly in school and youth council elections). Increases were also noted in the numbers who agreed that elections were effective in ensuring politicians listened to young people, were effective at ensuring they were accountable to the electorate, and that voting helped in changing the way Britain was governed.

This noted, participation in My Country, My Vote 2015-6 did not dispel the enduring pessimism noted at the beginning of the project regarding the motives of political parties and politicians. Respondents continued to report an inability to comprehend what national and local governments or politicians were talking about, and many still felt disconnected from the traditional representative democratic politics. Moreover, many still felt that formal politics felt abstract and distant, with little resonance and impact on the daily lives of young people. Furthermore, a sizeable number of respondents stressed that they were not consulted about decisions that affected their lives, either in schools or their local communities. Finally, many still complained that there was a lack of opportunities for young people to influence political parties or politicians.

There was little discernable change in where the young people reported they got information about politics from, although more noted that they interacted more with their friends and family in discussing politics. Therefore the distrust of most sources of political information continued to be prevalent amongst most participants. Another area where there was little change in the attitudes of

the participants was the resonance and efficacy (or lack thereof) of Citizenship Education. Many still expressed a lack of awareness of Citizenship lessons in school, and felt they were not offered sufficient opportunities for democratic learning and debate about politics.

Many of the same suggestions were also offered with regards to how democracy could be reformed. Support for lowering the voting age did increase by the end of the project. The predominant wish was however for politicians to establish a dialogue. Many participants agreed that it was the responsibility of local and national politicians to make the first move to establish regular contact with young people in schools and colleges to talk about current events as well as how politics works. This suggests that they see elected representatives as having a dual representative and educative role in their local community and in encouraging the transition of young people to becoming life-long democratically informed, engaged and participative citizens.

When asked again what the single most important issue was for them, most respondents identified many of the same issues. However the resonance of the European Union referendum was evident, and some complained that young people were being overlooked by both the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ campaigns. For example, one noted ‘young people should be heard and the campaigns should involve young people’.

My Country, My Vote 2015-6: Participant Feedback

We asked the young participants of the project to feedback their views – both positive and less positive. A number of themes emerged. Some highlighted that they enjoyed getting involved in the project. As one participant noted, ‘it gave us the power to create our own campaign’ while another stated ‘I liked how we got to campaign about something I thought was important and it also got me more interested in politics’. For some, the project encouraged greater engagement with local democracy. As one noted ‘it gave us time to think about what the problems and in our local community’.

For many, the project offered a chance to learn more about national and local politics, and how to develop the knowledge, skills, and experiences to become more engaged and participative. A significant number of respondents supported the belief provided by an All Saints pupil that ‘it was fun to learn about politics’. A Westborough pupil concurred, noting ‘I learnt a lot about politics which I didn’t know before’. Another pupil from the same school noted that she enjoyed ‘learning more about politics and campaigning’, while an Upper Batley pupil claimed ‘I liked designing the campaign’. For some, such as this Westborough pupil, ‘the best part of it all was presenting it too all our school’s years’.

Many participants agreed with the views of one Upper Batley student who said ‘it was good because we got to meet the local MP’ while another from Westborough High noted ‘I liked the lady from Parliament who came to listen to us’. It was clear that interacting with politicians was important, and that their ideas would be taken seriously – as evidenced by this student who stated ‘I liked the idea about having my idea taken forward in Parliament’.

The collective dimension of the project was particularly popular. As one student commented, ‘we worked as a group to try to campaign for what we thought needed to be improved’, while another noted ‘it was good to get the chance to learn about politics and meet new people’. Connecting with young people from other schools was also popular – ‘I enjoyed meeting the other schools’ as one noted.

However the most interesting aspect was one reported by a small number of pupils which related to their own sense of personal development. For example, one pupil commented that ‘being able to have a chance to talk about what young people want. I started to feel confident about speaking out’. Another noted that their participation meant ‘I got something to focus on so it took my mind off my anxiety and since joining I have had a reduced amount of anxiety attacks’.

Negative comments about the project focused on its structure rather than purpose. One pupil noted they were unhappy with the project due to ‘not learning enough about policies about parties and debates that are going on now and not having enough debates’. Another pupil suggested the ‘project should be longer’.

Videos, photos and information about the project, together with interviews with participants can be seen on the project’s blog – www.mycountrymyvote.wordpress.com

My Country, My Vote Data: First Evaluation November 2015

Male Female

Gender 31 29

Question 1:

Question Very Sometimes Rarely Not

1 How much interest do you generally have in politics?

9 27 18 6

Question 2: What do you know about politics? (Yes, No)

Question Yes No

2a I know which political party is in government in the UK 50 10

2b I know the name of the UK Prime Minister 57 3

2c I know the name of my local councillor 16 44

2d I read about politics regularly in a newspaper 15 45

2e I watch the news on television most days 36 24

2f I have heard of the Kirklees Youth Council 32 28

2g I have regular Citizenship education lessons in school 21 39

2h I know the name of my local MP 35 25

Question 3 (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither, Disagree, Strongly Disagree)

Question 3

Agree Strongly

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

a. I feel that I know enough about what is going on in politics

4 13 10 27 6

b. It often is difficult for me to understand what the government and politicians are talking about

6 23 11 16 4

c. Young people like me have no say in what the government does

27 21 3 3 6

d. Even though I cannot vote, I believe I can change things in my school and community

15 25 8 7 5

e. There aren’t enough opportunities for young people like me to influence political parties

20 31 5 2 2

f. Citizenship classes have improved my knowledge and understanding of politics

3 11 12 22 12

g. I would like learn about and discuss politics in classes in my school

11 29 11 7 2

h. I know how to sign on the electoral register and vote in a general or local elections

10 10 9 25 6

i. I would like change things in my community but don’t know how to?

7 31 13 8 1

j. I support the lowering the voting age to 16 years of age

17 26 8 6 3

k. I know enough about politics to vote with confidence for a political party?

8 19 13 14 6

l. I feel better about myself when I get involved in politics

3 15 30 8 4

m. There is no point in getting involved in politics as nothing ever changes

4 10 16 23 7

n. By getting involved in politics, I meet people from different communities

10 34 9 6 1

Question 4: Where do you get your information about politics from?) (Tick all that apply)

SourceCitizenship and other lessons at school 21

Discussing politics with my friends 14

The media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television news) 48

Conversations with parents and family 33

The internet 45

Community leaders (Iman, minister, rabbi, youth club etc.) 12

Other sources (political party leaflets, government campaigns) 3

I do not get information or talk about politics with anyone 4

Question 5: To be active in politics, I would be happy to do the following

Question 5

Join a political party 16

Join a campaign group 20

Stand for election to local school or youth council 27

Sign a petition or online campaign 46

Go on a demonstration 23

Write an email/letter to my MP/local councillor 33

Question 6: If you could vote, which of these elections would you vote in?

Vote in the next UK general election 58

Vote in the next local council election 44

Vote in the next election for the European Parliament 21

Vote in the next school council election 33

Vote in the next UK Youth Parliament/Youth Council election 30

Vote in a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union 25

Question 7: (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither, Disagree, Strongly Disagree)

Agree Strongly

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

a.

Political parties are effective organisations for changing the lives of young people for the better

2 21 16 16 5

B There is often a big difference between what a party promises it will do and what it does when it wins an election

20 30 7 2 1

C Parties are only interested in people’s votes, not in their opinions

13 29 11 6 1

d My Member of Parliament tries hard to look after the interests of people in my constituency

6 16 30 5 3

E In elections, political parties don’t tell people about the really important problems facing the country

5 25 20 8 2

f Political parties aren’t interested in the same issues that concern young people

8 33 11 5 3

g The main political parties in Britain do not offer voters real choices in elections because their policies are pretty much all the same

4 22 20 10 2

h Having regular elections makes politicians to listen carefully to public opinion

11 25 18 6 0

i If I voted, I feel as if I could really help to change the way that Britain is governed

9 27 14 8 2

j I would be seriously neglecting my duty as a citizen if I didn’t vote

8 26 17 9 0

h Elections help to keep politicians accountable for the promises they make

7 27 14 10 2

Question 8: Who do you trust?

Using a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 means ‘no trust’ and 5 means ‘a great deal of trust’, how much do you trust these public institutions in general?

1: 'No Trust' 2 3 4 5 'Great deal'

Political Parties 16 22 14 5 3

Westminster MPs

12 17 24 7 0

Local Councillors 5 14 22 17 2

Teachers 6 4 9 21 20

The Media 24 19 9 5 3

The Police 5 4 15 21 15

Armed Forces 3 6 16 20 15

MCMV- Parliamentary Education Service Evaluation February 2016

Gender: Male 29, Female 26

Question 1. Did you learn anything new that you did not know about politics before today’s session?

Yes 56No 0

Comments on is YES:

- What the house of parliament is used for - We learnt what democracy was which means peoples voices- I learnt more about parliament and how laws are made- More about parliament and house of commons- House of Lords - About democracy- How lords are allocated- House of Lords- I learnt that the houses of Parliament are open to the public- About votes and campaigns- Houses of parliament are publicly owned and you can watch debates- House of commons and lords- I learnt how a person joins the House of Lords- Because I have just learnt that they are- House of Commons is owned by the public- Lords aren’t voted for- The Lords aren’t voted for, the name was passed down- The Lords people aren’t voted for - 16 year olds can use mopeds - Lord aren’t voted for by normal people- Lords aren’t chosen by normal people- I learnt about what goes on, there are many campaigning ideas and ways- 16 year olds can drive Scooters- I learnt that Lords are selected based on their actions- A lot about to use social media - More about House of Commons- That we can contact MPs and Lords - There are a lot of campaigning that I did not know but now I have better knowledge - 16 year olds can drive mopeds- Different ways of campaigning and more about the House of Commons and Lords- Different ways of campaigning- There are lots of ways of campaigning that I did not know about- That its not just about law- That 16 year olds can drive mopeds- I learnt how to be voted in

- Its illegal to die in Parliament- How to use petitions effectively- That the hard decisions have to be made- That you have to make hard decisions- About the houses of Parliament and about the decisions you have to make.

Question 2: (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither, Disagree, Strongly Disagree)

Please consider the following statements and tick the box which most closely reflects your view:

Agree Strongly

Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree Strongly Disagree

o. I feel that I know enough about what is going on in politics

11 33 10 1 0

p. I better understand how political decisions are made

15 29 9 2 0

q. I better understand more about important political issues

13 21 15 6 0

r. I better understand the language that politicians use

8 10 8 21 8

s. I want to learn more about politics

19 22 6 6 2

t. If I could I would feel more likely to vote in a general election after this session

20 22 9 2 2

u. I would like to join a political party

7 11 19 11 7

v. I feel more positive about politics in general

17 28 7 3 0

Question 3: How much did today’s session influence how you feel generally about politics? (please tick the box that most closely reflects your view)After today’s session I am now:

More interested in politics 36Have the same interest in politics 15Less interested in politics 3Not interested in politics 1

MCMV- Final Evaluation 2016

Gender: Male 29, Female 26Question 1: After participating in My Country, My Vote, how much interest do you now have about politics? (please tick the box that most closely reflects your view)

I am very interested in politics 25I am sometimes interested in politics 22I am rarely interested in politics 4I am not interested in politics 4

Question 2: What do you know about politics?

YES NOw. I know which political

party is in government in the UK

49 6

x. I know the name of the UK Prime Minister

55 0

y. I know the name of my local councillor

38 17

z. I read about politics regularly in a newspaper

23 32

aa. I watch the news on television most days

39 16

bb. I have heard of the Kirklees Youth Council

49 6

cc. I have regular Citizenship Education lessons in school

16 39

dd. I know the name of my local MP

45 6

Question 3: After taking part in ‘My Country, My Vote’, please consider the following statements and tick the box which most closely reflects your view:

Agree Strongly

Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

a. I feel that I know enough about what is going on in politics

15 24 8 4 4

b. It often is difficult for me to understand what the government and politicians are talking about

9 15 9 17 5

c. Young people like me have no say in what the government does

16 22 13 4 0

d. Even though I cannot vote, I believe I can change things in my school and community

19 26 6 2 2

e. There aren’t enough opportunities for young people like me to influence political parties

16 21 6 9 3

f. Citizenship classes have improved my understanding of politics

4 14 13 17 7

g. I would like learn about and discuss politics in classes in my school

19 26 10 1 0

h. I know how to sign on the electoral register and vote in elections

14 15 12 12 2

i. I would like change things in my community but don’t know how to?

6 14 14 14 7

j. I support the lowering the voting age to 16 years of age

22 21 6 3 3

k. I know enough about politics to vote with confidence for a political party?

13 21 13 6 2

l. I feel better about myself when I get involved in politics

12 18 19 4 2

m. There is no point in getting involved in

3 5 9 29 9

politics as nothing ever changes

n. By getting involved in politics, I meet people from different communities

19 26 6 3 1

o. I feel personally empowered by taking part in My Country, My Vote

15 23 12 4 1

p. I felt the My Country My Vote campaign was a good way to involve me in politics

34 16 5 0 0

Question 4: Where do you get your information about politics from?) (Tick all that apply)

SourceCitizenship and other lessons at school 19

Discussing politics with my friends 23

The media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television news) 46

Conversations with parents and family 38

The internet 48

Community leaders (Iman, minister, rabbi, youth club etc.) 10

Other sources (political party leaflets, government campaigns) 8

I do not get information or talk about politics with anyone 0

Question 5: After participating in ‘My Country, My Vote’, I would be happy to do the following (tick as many as you wish):

Question 5

Join a political party 27

Join a campaign group 30

Stand for election to local school or youth council 32

Sign a petition or online campaign 47

Go on a demonstration 27

Write an email/letter to my MP/local councillor 42

Question 6: After participating in ‘My Country, My Vote’, if you could vote, which of these elections would you vote in?

Vote in the next UK general election 52

Vote in the next local council election 51

Vote in the next election for the European Parliament 31

Vote in the next school council election 35

Vote in the next UK Youth Parliament/Youth Council election 42

Vote in a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union 38

Question 7: Participating in PoliticsAgree Strongly

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

a. Political parties are effective organisations for changing the lives of young people for the better

5 24 15 9 2

B There is often a big difference between what a party promises it will do and what it does when it wins an election

19 26 6 3 1

C Parties are only interested in people’s votes, not in their opinions

7 21 22 5 0

d My Member of Parliament tries hard to look after the interests of people in my constituency

11 21 19 3 0

E In elections, political parties don’t tell people about the really important problems facing the country

4 14 19 15 3

f Political parties aren’t interested in the same issues that concern young people

5 19 15 13 3

g The main political parties in Britain do not offer voters real choices in elections because their policies are pretty much all the same

7 21 12 14 1

h Having regular elections forces politicians to listen carefully to public opinion

18 26 9 2 0

i If I voted, I feel as if I could really help to change the way that Britain is governed

20 23 7 3 2

j I would be seriously neglecting my duty as a citizen if I didn’t vote

10 31 11 2 1

h Elections help to keep politicians accountable for the promises they make

14 26 12 2 1

Question 8: Who do you trust?

Using a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 means ‘no trust’ and 5 means ‘a great deal of trust’, how much do you trust these public institutions in general?

1: 'No Trust' 2 3 4 5 'Great deal'

Political Parties 14 18 10 8 5

Westminster MPs

7 12 18 13 5

Local Councillors 4 10 14 18 9

Teachers 4 5 6 17 23

The Media 21 17 11 3 3

The Police 3 6 11 16 19

Armed Forces 3 9 12 17 14

Question 9: Can you comment on the experience of being part of the My Country, My Vote project?

What was good about the My Country, My Vote campaign you took part in?

• Getting Involved

• I enjoyed taking part and giving in my personal ideas/views

• I liked the idea about having my idea taken forward in Parliament

• It was good because we got to meet the local MP

• It gave us the power to create our own campaign

• Meeting the new

• Learning more about politics

• I learnt a lot on politics which I didn’t know before

• It was okay

• It fun to learn about politics

• Our presentation

• Learning more about politics

• I liked designing the campaign

• Got to get involved

• Involved

• It was about cheaper bus fares

• Gaining more information about politics and how I can help. The lady from Parliament

• I liked the lady from Parliament who came

• I got something to focus on so it took my mind off my anxiety and since joining I have had a reduced amount of anxiety attacks

• It gave us time to think about what the problems and in our local community

• I liked how we got to campaign about something I thought was important and it also got me more interested in politics

• The speech of my campaign was good

• Being able to have a chance to talk about what young people want. Starting to feel confident about speaking out

• We worked as a group to try to campaign for what we thought needed to be improved. The best part of it all was presenting it too all our schools years

• No, just tell young people the straight up truth and we’ll understand

• Focus on youths more and more visits to inform and involve young people about politics

• Learning more about politics and campaigning

• Getting to learn about politics and meeting new people

• I enjoyed every activity and I learnt a lot of things about

• I enjoyed presenting our powerpoint to everyone

Was there anything you were less keen on?

• Lectures

• Voting

• Not learning enough about policies about parties and debates that are going on now. Not having debates

• Nothing really to be honest, everything was well presented and we all understand it was very well

• Erm…No