The Political Academy

Getting young people involved in British politics

The Political Academy was set up by the SHM Foundation in 2010 in order to give young British people from a diverse range of backgrounds the chance to get more involved in politics. The Political Academy was established in partnership with a group of young adults from London, Leeds and Bradford. To keep in touch with the work of the Academy go to our facebook group by clicking here.

In January 2012, a group of Political Academy members came together at the House of Commons to discuss the government's proposal to move from household to individual electoral registration (IER) and what this might mean for young voters. The event was driven by a group of partners with a shared interest in engaging young voters – Bite the Ballot, the SHM Foundation, and the Electoral Reform Society. The event was also supported by the Electoral Commission. The event was a huge success, and we hope it will lead to further collaboration between these partners to increase the numbers of young people registering to vote and using their vote. Please click here to see the report from this event.

In 2011, the Political Academy carried out its own campaign to inspire young voters to use their vote in the UK referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) on May 5th. The 'What You Saying' campaign was driven by members of the Political Academy in London, Leeds and Bradford. These young campaigners took on the challenge of talking to young voters aged 18-25 years about the referendum and the arguments for and against AV. Over a 6-week period, the young campaigners spread the word through a range of activities including debates in colleges, radio broadcasts, social networking, and street campaigning.

This campaign was a huge success, engaging over 1500 young voters in face-to-face debate and discussion, and reaching a further 4,000 online through social media interaction. Here's what some of the young campaigners who were involved had to say about the project:

"Without this campaign, the people I spoke to wouldn't have voted."

"I think I managed to convince 30 people to actually vote."

"It made me feel more enthusiastic about voting and why I wanted to vote - not just for the sake of it."

"I was interested in politics before, but now I feel passionate that I can tell others about it."

To view the full evaluation report for our campaign to engage young voters in the referendum, please click here.

Going forward, the Political Academy aims to build on this work to trial and develop new models for engaging 16-25 year olds in politics - as voters, citizens and future leaders. The SHM Foundation is interested in setting up partnerships with like-minded organisations to pursue the Political Academy's mission.

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