Who young people said they would be voting for

THE venue is Loughor Rugby Club, where Amman United are taking on Alltwen in the West Wales Plate.

It seems an unlikely place to talk about the General Election and among many of the supporters their interest in politics isn’t matched by their passion for rugby. Others were politically engaged however and had strong thoughts on each party.

Ben is 19, and one of the spectators at the match. “I’m not going to vote,” he said. “I’m just one in how many million in Wales so I don’t see the point. One more person won’t really do a lot.

“All I care about is the minimum wage. When I understand it in a few more years, I’ll probably start voting then.”

Sadly this appears to be a common theme.

Lots of 18 to 25 year olds at the game said that they feel they don’t know enough information, or wished it could be presented to them in a way where they wouldn’t have to do much research.

Not all young people at the match felt the same, however.

Eighteeen-year-old Lewis is studying towards an A-level in politics. He said: “The Conservatives want a strong stance on Brexit, I think it’s important that we respect the will of the people.

“Labour’s policies, the living wage is going from £7 odd to £10 which is too much of a gap. It will cripple some small businesses.”

Lewis thinks political education should be something that children are taught from a younger age, which would endgender more engagement in politics in young people.

He adds: “You don’t hear about politics until A-levels.”

In recent months there has been a spike in young people registering to vote, above all other age groups.

Most young people at the match seem to care about the economy, job prospects and tuition fees.

One of the players, Dwayne Griffiths, aged 19 will be voting for the first time in this election. When he was asked who he was planning to vote for he said: “Labour obviously.

“Their manifesto stated that they are going to scrap tuition fees, so for me that’s less debt when I get older.

“An increase in jobs in all different sectors, that’s key in my opinion.”

The prospect of getting onto the housing ladder is a subject that surprisingly didn’t come up, possibly because it’s something that is out of reach for so many youngsters that it’s no longer at the forefront of their minds.

Bethany, aged 19, feels impassioned about politics that more needs to be done about mental health issues.

She says: “I think there needs to be more work done, with awareness and money for funding.”