MTV kids rock the vote

By Brian Wheeler
BBC News Online political reporter

Efforts to get young people involved in politics can easily backfire.

Think reverse baseball caps and Ali-G style attempts to get down with the kids.

Arinze Mokwe (centre) scooped the top prize

So the idea of a government quango best known for ensuring fair play in referendums and local elections running a contest with satellite music channel MTV, potentially had disaster written all over it.

As MTV's marketing director, James Scroggs, said at Tuesday's prizegiving ceremony: "What is MTV doing hanging out with the Electoral Commission?"

The answer, he said, is that the channel wanted to give viewers a chance to air their views and unearth some raw creative talent into the bargain.

High standard

And it appears to have hit the target on both counts.

MTV viewers were asked to come up with a video, piece of music, design work or new media project based on the theme "turning opinion into action". More than 800 entries were received.

If they lowered the voting age then young people might just vote for the sake of it Lucy Stewart, 14 and Tiffany Wilcox, 14 Young people on politics

The overall winner, 20-year-old graphic designer Ikenna Mokwe, impressed the judges with a remarkably professional and stylish video clip and original hip-hop track.

"I wanted to use my music to make young people realise that things just don't happen by accident - people make them happen.

"We should not let ourselves be spoon-fed, but make our voices heard by getting involved," Ikenna said.

Clever

His prize was a home computer and the opportunity to create a promotional video with MTV.

His 16-year-old brother Arinze, whose formidable rapping talents are on display in the film, received the prize on his behalf from Top of the Pops and MTV presenter Tim Kash at a special ceremony at the channel's Camden studios.

When we launched this competition we were not quite sure what we were going to get Tim Kash, MTV presenter

The brothers only found out about the contest two days before the deadline and filmed the clip at their Hackney home.

Speaking after the ceremony, Arinze said it was wrong to suggest young people were not interested in politics - but politicians did not seem very interested in them.

"A lot of people have ideas - like they want to be a lawyer, for example - but they think there is no way they can do it.

"It's the same with voting. They think they can not make a difference in the world."

'Groovy'

Jack Hawkins, 18, whose clever and technically accomplished video "ticking" was commended by the judges, said: "People think no-one cares about politics, but the apathy comes from having no one to vote for.

"Young people don't feel they can trust politicians."

Hawsley and Hawkins: Clever film

His advice for politicians was to avoid acting "groovy" and give it to voters straight.

"They need to speak openly and frankly and allow people to make their own decisions."

The Mogwe brothers' film will be used by the Electoral Commission to encourage young people to get involved in the democratic process.

"When we launched this competition we were not quite sure what we were going to get - but we were amazed by the quality of the entries," Tim Kash said.

The other benefit of the contest for MTV, he said, apart from stimulating interest in politics, was "stumbling across some truly talented and very articulate" young people, who clearly had a future in the music business.

Robert Kilroy-Silk

MTV's involvement also appears to have drawn a much wider cross-section of the nation's youth than might otherwise have been the case.

The winners pose for pictures

Oxbridge-bound public school types rubbed shoulders with black clad goths and skater kids in hooded-tops and beanie hats at the awards ceremony in MTV's Studio A. There was also a refreshingly wide range of political views.

Jonathan Hawsley, 18, of Ipswich School, even thought the voting age should be increased.

"We know people at our school who got so carried away with voting, they put a cross in any box.

"They voted BNP for a laugh. Things like that make you think they need a few more years to realise the seriousness of it."

The contest may also have marked the first appearance of Robert Kilroy-Silk in rap.

'Hypocrisy'

Even though he did not necessarily agree with what the presenter was saying, Ben, of rappers the UK Collective (not affiliated to UK Independence Party) thought the former BBC presenter was "denied" free speech.

Democracy in Britain, he noted with a rapper's eye for a rhyme, was more like hypocrisy.

"We are supposed to live in a democratic state, but the government doesn't give people much choice.

"I supported the war in Iraq, but there should at least have been a poll to see what the general public thought."

The other winners were:

• Winner of the 14 to 28-year-old category Gary Wilson, a 17-year-old student from Cambridgeshire, who entered a poem on the theme of young people being too scared to express their opinions.
• Runner-up Gillian Young from Scotland in the 19-24 category, with a leaflet aimed at young people.
• Runner-up Vicki McAuley, from Belfast, who was inspired by Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues.