Student launches war on apathy

Fifi Kara, a 19-year-old student from Croydon, has spent the last six months setting up a social enterprise which she hopes will change the way young people engage with politics. Part of the motivation behind setting up the company, called Model Westminster, stems from a desire to put an end to the political apathy that characterises the majority of adolescent Britons. With a turnout of 44% in 2010’s General Election, the UK’s 18-24s are the EU’s least politically active, and Fifi is hoping to help avoid the same scenario from occurring in future elections.

Fifi started her project following her own experience with British politics and the lack of power she felt during the tuition fee rises in 2012 and the expenses scandal of 2009. “As a teenager I felt as though I had no say in the political decisions that went on around me that have a large impact on my future, but most of all I felt as though I didn’t understand the system and that is when I realised a realistic political education was vital but sadly, lacking in our country,” she explained.

Model Westminster has brought together a team of 12 young people, all under the age of 25 and all of whom work and study in London. It will invite 150 young people aged 16-19 from across London to come together this summer and simulate the roles of local policy-makers, stakeholders and residents. Students will have to manage their own constituencies and replicate the jobs of their leaders. The challenges that participants will have to tackle are deliberately wide-ranging to ensure they are exposed to policy issues they may not have been aware of and grasp the concept of fitting policies around public opinion. Model Westminster hopes to provide a realistic and accurate political education to students, by exposing them to a number of policy challenges and not just the issues that affect their age group.

Over two days, participants will have to work in teams to prepare two policy proposals for presentation to a panel of judges. At the end, winners will be able to collate their policy proposals in to reports of recommendation and present these to their local MP. Model Westminster has already caught the attention of various MPs as well as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable who has become the lead Patron. Cross-party support is also at the forefront of Model Westminster with Labour MP, Jim Murphy stating, “Model Westminster is a great initiative which enables students to gain an understanding of UK politics and the wider importance of political engagement.”

Fifi hopes that participants will come to understand the complexity of being a politician as they become familiar with the policy-making process. At the same time, participants will gain practical knowledge about the system which will help them to make political decisions – from interpreting election literature accurately right through to deciding which party to vote for. It’s not all about elections, though, as politicians take decisions throughout their terms of office, many of which can affect our lives for years to come. Model Westminster’s ethos rests on the belief that educating students on the policy-making process will enable them to look beyond the alienating stereotypes surrounding politicians and motivate them to make their voices heard in real life.

Fifi hopes that, with the support of policy-makers, educators and young people, Model Westminster will continue to grow and expand to more areas around England.

Fifi may have felt naieve about politics when she was growing up, but she has embraced involvement in her later teens. She is now in her first year of an undergraduate degree in BSc Social Policy with Government at the London School of Economics. She has been involved with social enterprises before, most recently spending her gap year working for the National Citizens Service as a Policy and Advocacy intern. She has been involved with campaigns such as the Living Wage and runs an internationally recognised blog at poeticislam.tumblr.com.

If you’re aged 16-19 and would like to sign up for the 2014 cohort, please go to:

www.modelwestminster.org.uk.