Young Candidates In Coventry

One thing that has, organically, worked out is that four of the Coventry Green Party's candidates this year are 19 or 20 years of age.

The candidates in question are Kenneth Jones (Binley and Willenhall), Charlotte Tittle (Sherbourne), John Walton (Wainbody) and Jesse Meadows (Westwood).

Ken is a student in politics at City College here in the city. Charlotte, aka Charlie, helped her brother, Bryn, leaflet and canvass in Cheylesmore last year. John and Jesse are Young Greens at our chapter at the University of Warwick.

Coventry South, the constituency where we are running candidates in five of the six wards this year, seems rather special. There are 50 000 students at the two universities in the constituency, plus places like City College and Hereward College. When I asked John for some pithy/punchy comment to put into a press release on the issue (youth and politics), he pointed out that the average age of councillors in Coventry is about 50. One reason why he's running is that we need councillors who understand the needs of the students in Coventry.

Young people in Coventry are not apathetic.

They were active in demonstrations against the War on Iraq, and young people care about many issues on which the council has control over – public transport, youth projects, cycling, or the regulation of live music.

By trying to have a slate that puts candidates in their twenties front and centre, we want people to not just be tomorrow's decision makers, but to put them in a position where they can make a difference today.