Local democracy

1. Local democracy We started off by answering a questionnaire about local democracy and what we knew already. These were our findings. • Over 50% of people asked, were either totally unaware, or not very aware of how democracy works in their area. • 56% didn’t know who their member of Parliament is and which party they represent.

2. How to vote • Also, 73% said they wouldn’t know which political party to vote for if there was an election tomorrow. • In addition, 50% said they didn’t know what their local council was responsible for.

3. It turns out we are not alone. • In the 2010 general election, only 44% of 18 to 24-year-olds voted; it was the lowest turnout of all age groups. New research from the Office for National Statistics shows that only 31% of those aged 16 to 24 are "fairly" or "very interested" in politics, and that we are the most apathetic in the EU. • Hopefully that can change! In our survey, 75% of people said they thought it was important for young people to know how democracy in their local area works. So we set about finding out.

4. Finding out • We wanted to find out about democracy in our local area. This is what we found out. Devon County Council At present the majority of councillors in the chamber are Conservatives, who hold 38 of the 62 seats. Elections are every four years.

5. On Exeter City Council there are 40 councillors. It has different responsibilities. • We then found out who are local councillors are and who they represent. We wrote to them and asked them some questions and they replied with some interesting answers.

6. Devon County Council Our Councillor for Devon County Council is Emma Morse who represents the areas of Pinhoe and Mincinglake as a member of the Labour Party. She is with us today and she attended this school!

7. This is who they are and what they do Exeter City Council Cllr Catherine Dawson is a member of the Labour party and represents Mincinglake which is the ward in which our school is situated. Our other Councillor is Ian Martin.

8. UK Youth Parliament Run by young people, the UK Youth Parliament provides opportunities for 11-18 year-olds to use their voice in creative ways to bring about social change. They debate in the House of Commons like the members of Parliament. It is a way for young people to get involved in democracy.

10. UKYP • 16 and 17 year olds should be given the vote in all public elections, according to the UK Youth Parliament, which has chosen ‘votes at 16’ as its national campaign for 2014. ‘A curriculum to prepare us for life’ was also chosen as the UKYP’s priority campaign for England. George Downs is the elected Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) for East and Mid Devon. His job is to represent the voice of young people in this area. He is a 16 year old student at Exmouth Community College.

11. Getting involved UKYP Devon will hold elections in January 2015. As a school we have registered as a ‘polling station’ so that young people aged 11-18 have the opportunity to vote. Results of the elections are announced at the end of January 2015. Can we get involved? Yes, we can!