Virgin Voters - Research into first time voters in Great Britain

A New survey by the Economic and Social Research Council has unearthed interesting statistics showing that young people, many eligible to vote for the first time, are keen to play an active role in the political process, as recent anti-war protests have shown - but are turned off by politicians.

Dr Matt Henn, researcher on the ESRC "First Time Voters" project at Nottingham University said that their research shows that young people consider politicians "cynical and self-serving". With many young people feeling that elections change nothing, how will the political parties reach the new generation of voters?