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Posted by: vidcapper 9th October 2019, 08:54 AM

For me, it would be around 1982, when I was 17-ish.

It was around the time of the Falklands War, and Thatcher wasn't too popular beforehand (but winning that war changed all that, unfortunately), and the Lib/SDP alliance was in its infancy.

I was just two months short of being able to vote in the 1983 election, which was very frustrating.

Posted by: Common Sense 9th October 2019, 10:33 PM

I'd say in my late teens. Was first interested in the 1979 election when Maggie was elected.

Posted by: vidcapper 10th October 2019, 04:58 AM

A reply at last! I guess threads don't really attract interest unless they are controversial.

Posted by: Tones and Iz 10th October 2019, 05:26 AM

Okay, aware - 2005 when I was 11 because of that year's general. Interested, 2008 with the American election that year and the crisis, though my instincts weren't developed much beyond Bush bad, Obama good, and Blair/Brown bad because of the Iraq War. Though I really didn't know very much about the alternatives in the UK at that time.

By 2010 I was fully into it, and would have voted in the election had I not been a year and a bit too young to vote - I've voted in every election since. I would have voted Lib Dem in that one due to Clegg's performance in the TV debates, and while I was initially happy to see the back of Labour, a government I'd heard little good about growing up, I quickly realised that there was much worse. Which made me committed in taking an interest now for life.

Posted by: Algernon Monqueef 10th October 2019, 09:43 AM

Pfft. You only got interested when the papers started going on about brexshit and trying ro forcefeed us a billionaire's opinions on it.

Posted by: vidcapper 10th October 2019, 11:02 AM

What bizarre logic!

On that basis, I only 'started getting interested in politics' in Aug'97 when I first got on-line and started posting to uk.politics.misc on Usenet (I still post there, BTW).

Posted by: Jordan Lee 10th October 2019, 11:19 AM

Tbh I’m sort of only just starting to take it in now.

I’m 24 and ive always voted on things I’ve been able too but I’ve never properly been interested in it I’m just more aware of what’s going on now and have stronger opinions on things.

Posted by: Liаm 10th October 2019, 11:26 AM

Aware, I'd say about 2010 because I remember that election quite well, but I think it was probably 2015 when I could vote that I became more aware, educated myself and actually kept up with everything. Not that you should only care when you can vote, but it just happened to be when I realised that I really should know more and be in the loop, as we all should tbh when it's the running of our country at stake.

Posted by: Algernon Monqueef 10th October 2019, 11:31 AM

Show examples of common sense being interested pre 2015 then? He was right here...

And the statistics show that no one cared about the EU pre 2015. Oop.

Posted by: Tones and Iz 10th October 2019, 12:59 PM

I do recall Chris always being interested in politics ever since I joined, if by interested, you mean complaining about foreign next door neighbours and their funny customs, like going to work and holding down a decent job.

Posted by: Steve201 10th October 2019, 02:14 PM

My fav subjects at school were always history and since politics is basically history as well it was natural to be interested. Also being from NI meant you always watched the debate shows when you were younger and tried to understand the differences in the arguments.

Then I did a MA in Irish Politics following my undergrad!

Posted by: vidcapper 10th October 2019, 02:22 PM

Which 'statistics' would that be?

I have a longer memory than you, and recall it (or its predecessors) being contentious as far back as the early 80's.

Posted by: Tones and Iz 10th October 2019, 02:24 PM

Yes, same! I distinctly remember one history lesson where our history teacher took us to the British National Party website (this was right around the time of their height) with the lesson that they were a really unsavoury bunch and not something to be joked about. As a comparison to the Nazis and showing how history and politics are inextricably interlinked.

Posted by: danG 10th October 2019, 03:09 PM

Probably around the time of the Brexit referendum, which also coincided with when I could first actually vote too.

Posted by: TheJüpreme 10th October 2019, 03:36 PM

!

Claws and Iz out today

Posted by: Common Sense 10th October 2019, 04:06 PM

Oh don't be so ridiculous. I've stayed up all night watching election results since 1979. I can even remember the two elections in 1974 when I was 14. I remember hearing that Wilson had resigned in 1976.

Posted by: Common Sense 10th October 2019, 04:12 PM

I may not have posted much online about it but was still very interested.

Posted by: Algernon Monqueef 10th October 2019, 05:13 PM

Quickly google it. Actual statistics, not "statistics" Sorry, brexiter.

Posted by: Suedehead2 10th October 2019, 05:22 PM

Almost every opinion poll until around the time of the 2015 election showed that only 5-10% of people considered EU membership to be one of the most important issues. That figure will, presumably, have included some who thought it was essential that we retain our membership.

I started taking an interest when my Dad encouraged my sister and I to watch some of the October '74 results programme. I then took a fairly close interest in the 1975 referendum. Both of those were when I was 14. My interest increased again when Harold Wilson resigned and has continued ever since.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 10th October 2019, 08:15 PM

Growing up in Northern Ireland in the 90s politics was always in the background. I vividly remember my mother being upset when the IRA ceasefire ended in 1996, and I remember the run-up to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, and the subsequent referendum.

The first time I remember a General Election was 1997 when Tony Blair became Prime Minister - I remember vividly how my mother described what each of the GB-wide parties stood for to my 7-year old self: Lib Dems - funding hospitals. Labour - funding hospitals AND schools. Conservatives - Looking after the rich (so obviously I thought that Tony Blair was pretty nifty). 2005 was the first General Election I stayed up all night to watch the results for, and have done so every one since.

Posted by: Steve201 10th October 2019, 09:56 PM

I remember staying up all night and seeing the GFA document being agreed in 1998.

First election I remember was 1992!

Posted by: vidcapper 11th October 2019, 04:48 AM

Nope, that's not good enough.

If you claim statistics exist that support your position, then you should have no problems posting the source - OTOH, if you don't/can't then I call BS!



That's an AQ level of over-simplification , but I suppose you were only 7 at the time.

As I mentioned in my OP, the '83 GE is the first I took interest in, and I have detailed constituency-level stats for that and every GE since. [If anyone is interested, I can post them to you]

Posted by: Tawdry Hepburn 11th October 2019, 01:28 PM

I remember when I could first legally vote in the 2005 GE and I knew nothing about politics, but voted Labour simply because it was the opposite of what my Dad believed and with that I trusted it was the right thing to do. (and turns out it was!)

I think the 2010 GE certainly engaged me more, and I've gradually learned everything I know since then.

Posted by: Tones and Iz 11th October 2019, 02:27 PM

Deleted some posts. Can we keep the quality of argument above a 'no u' level and actually include either sources or relevant discussion points? Thanks.

Posted by: Gezza 11th October 2019, 07:57 PM

First general election I recall was the 1987 one and the first one I voted in was in 1997. I would say I became interested in politics around 1993/94

Posted by: Brett-Butler 12th October 2019, 10:08 AM

Have done another spring clean on this topic. Please don't be a boring bast*rd, people.

Posted by: Doctor Blind 13th October 2019, 10:18 PM

I've voted in every GE that I've been eligible for (since 2005) but I only started developing much more of an interest from my early 20s onwards. The main factor that has shaped my political views in recent years is one of my close friends, who lost his job in the early 2010s and spent a long time suffering the cuts (particularly to Mental Health trusts- he has Aspergers) under the Lib Dem/Conservative coalition to the point where he became very depressed and suicidal.. and combined with the feeling of betrayal after the Lib Dems reneged on their promise on Tuition Fees I moved to back Labour in 2015 and have done ever since. I'm hopeful that the next GE will be about bigger issues than Brexit such as Climate Change to shape a better future, and that we can heal the divisions that have been exploited and deepened by those with deeply political motives.

Posted by: Mack. 21st October 2019, 03:41 PM

Probably took interest in the 2010 General Election.

Maybe other as my school was used as a 'Polling Station' and we got the day off back in primary school.