Stevenson Hopes Young Voters Continue to Politically Engage

Stewart Stevenson, SNP MSP for Banffshire & Buchan Coast, has said he hopes that the upward trend in youngsters getting involved in politics continues to rise.

In a debate last week on young voters and school debates in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Stevenson said:

“Getting youngsters engaged is not new, but there is a bit of a cycle to it and hopefully we are in an upward cycle that will continue.

“There is a consensus around votes for 16 and 17-year-olds - an online survey of young people shows that only 8.5 per cent are opposed to it, and we can now say without much risk of contradiction that giving our youngsters the vote is pretty much generally the settled will.”

He added that schools played a vital part in last year’s referendum campaign as this is where around 50 per cent of voters were informed about the issues.

Mr Stevenson said:

“In Banffshire & Buchan Coast I was and still am friends with people who espoused and campaigned for a different viewpoint, but neither side had realised the extent to which we would empower and activate people at the grass roots.”