When VentnorBlog heard that an 18 year old was running in the Isle of Wight by-election for the newly-vacated seat, we were keen to meet up with him to do an interview.
After all, it’s not every day that an 18 year old runs for council.
We’re pleased that yesterday we secured his first interview.
If you think that 18-year olds don’t have any interest in politics today, Josh is a clear illustration that not all 18-year olds can be tarred by the same brush.
He’s been interested in Politics since he was fifteen, moving on to become a member of work alongside the Island’s Youth Council later.
Young people are under represented
He told us that one reasons he decided to run for the Chale, Niton and Whitwell seat is that he feels that young people are under represented in politics, “Young people just get over looked once you get into mainstream County politics.”
When we asked if younger people were getting frustrated by the political process at county level, he replied, “Certainly on the Island – and Student Rider was the main thing – but I don’t want young Island people to get turned off by it.
“Our failure [to save] the Student Rider – because that’s when young people actually got involved with Politics, tried to do something about it and we didn’t get particularly far – but they shouldn’t be put off by it.
“I’m 18 and standing for county council to show that we can do something, even though we’re young and get brushed aside.”
How to capture votes
How he would capture the votes that went to Bill Wyatt-Millington at the last election?, we asked (He had 641, the other candidate, Malcolm Groves got 404) – “As a young person I feel that I’ll be able to bring something new to County Hall – speak up, have enthusiasm – where as County Hall at the moment is not diverse at all, you should have age ranges, complete age ranges, all spectrums. There’s noone near my age in County Hall.”
With the electorate of Chale, Niton and Whitwell having an average age of 46 years old, we wondered how Josh would go about persuading the upper age range that an eighteen year old can represent them, “I’m very aware of the local issues and just because I’m 18, it doesn’t mean that I can’t represent them, what they want and what the need in the local area.
“I feel that because I’m 18 it actually makes me stronger, because I’ve got more enthusiasm for it and I will always stand up for what they want and the needs of the area.”
Uniting issue: Number six bus
VB asked Josh what were the issues for the three distinct areas. While acknowledging there were separate issues for each of them, he was keen to point out that there were also issues that went across all of them – such as the Number six bus.
“We need the transport links to the areas. It cuts off recreational needs for young people and those of other ages, like the elderly doing food shopping. That goes across all three of the villages.
Niton Library
Changing to talk about one of the local issues, Josh continued, “More specifically, Niton Library is under threat at being shutdown. This is a library that’s open three days a week – about 16 hours a week – so minimal cost. It’s a tiny little library, but it’s at the heart of the community
“We’ve already seen that ripping out community things like that is appalling with Chale. Removing Chale Primary has completely devastated Chale.”
Have a listen
The best way to get an idea of what Josh is like is to have a listen to him.
In the 13 minute chat, as well as the above, we also talk about what should happen to the Undercliff and how he’s going to encourage younger voters to go to the polling station. [audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/josh-cooper-running-for-iwc-council-at-18.mp3]
