Lack of information 'a barrier to youth voters'

Accessing information about candidates for the next general election is a barrier for young people in Guernsey, politicians, analysts and potential young voters say.

Sixteen-year-old Eva Redelinghuys, who is on working with the Youth Forum to try to engage more young people in the election, said finding unbiased information about big issues was difficult.

She said: "I think a lot of young people have a really sophisticated understanding of politics because, if you are politically engaged, it is something you are really passionate about."

Former Deputy Michelle Le Clerc agreed and said that young people were not alone when it came to a lack of understanding and where to go for the information.

Miss Redelinghuys said that people "try and seek out the information, even if it is really hard to do so, but it's not always made accessible".

Mrs Le Clerc said: "Even when you know what you want to find and know what you are looking for, actually finding that information takes a considerable amount of time and investigation and people don't always have that."

"And I do think that the States do need to be providing, with their manifesto booklet, a brief summary of sort of where we are and where you can go to find further information... of what the issues are and what needs to be addressed."

Dr Christopher Pich, a political branding specialist, said: "Young voters often want very clear information that is broken down into accessible, engaging chunks.

"From my research, young voters often say that they want clarity; but they also want politics to be made relevant and the impact of politics is clearly communicated to them."

The issues that young people care most about, according to Eva Redelinghuys, are the climate, education and housing.

Political commentator David Piesing said: "The influence, I think, of the young vote will increase with each election.

"It's things like social media engagement, that's going to be key. "

Mr Piesing and Mrs Le Clerc agreed that engaging the 4,000 to 5,000 voters under 21 could be crucial in the 2025 general election.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [email protected].