Poll: Six in ten believe politicians ignore young people
A new survey hints at a disconnect between Westminster politics and young people with a clear majority (59%) of respondents saying that they are ignored by politicians.
In the survey, two-thirds of young people aged 18-24 said they felt this to be the case, while less than a third said they were interested in politics.
Although young people are the least interested age group, more than half said that getting involved in politics is important - a similar proportion to older voters.
The ComRes/ITV News Index poll of more than 2,000 adults over the age of 18 was conducted between the 14th and 16th November 2014.
A significant majority (68%) of all respondents said that politicians generally do a bad job of engaging with young people.
Almost half (46%) said that social media provides a good way to get involved in politics, compared with 35% who disagreed.
Labour leader Ed Miliband comes across as the politician most likely to stand up for the interests of young people, although only 16% of respondents felt this to be the case.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage was seen as the least likely to stand up for young people's interests, with just 8% of people agreeing.
Ed Miliband (Labour) 16%
David Cameron (Conservative) 13%
Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat) 13%
Nigel Farage (UK Independence Party) 8%
Among the young people included in the survey, David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg are all tied on 13%.
More than half of respondents (55%) did not agree that the voting age should be reduced to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in elections.
This proportion fell to 42% among young people, with just 32% in favour of the idea of a lower voting age.
Six in ten young people agreed that the UK should move to a system where people could vote on the internet - a similar proportion to other age groups.