Abstract

One of the central, non-party issues in the latter days of the 2001 British General Election campaign was encouraging the electorate to vote. With turnout at British elections in decline, particularly among young people, British democracy appears to be facing a crisis. This disengagement offered both opportunities and challenges for the election advertising campaigns, however, the campaigns employed have been accused of failing to engage a disinterested young electorate. The aim of this paper is to explore youth attitudes to electoral advertising and to explore its value for public servants tasked with increasing voter engagement and turnout among young people for future British general elections.