6 May 2015

Election 2015: the issues that matter to young people

During the general election campaign, Channel 4 News asked three young poets for their take on the problems they want solved by the election, from education to the housing crisis.


Diary of a homeless girl by Sophia Thakur

Here Sophia Thakur, a student in Birmingham, mixes street rhyme with the political issues of the day to give us her personal – and moving – view on the housing crisis – and homelessness.

“My mind can’t comprehend how 610,000 homes are empty in England; but there are still kids who make homes out of ledges without spikes and hang clothes where we lock bikes. Where homelessness is as much a culture as the blind eye.”


Intuition fees by Tom Gill

Tom Gill, a spoken word artist and actor from Salford, recites his poem on a key election issue – education and tuition fees: “Like it’s a commodity, a monopoly, we’re being forced to buy knowledge. Next we’ll be sending students for lessons at iCollege.”


Hear all about it by Samuel King

Finally, north London poet Samuel King uses the spoken word to look at why young people are disengaged from politics: “Apparently the young don’t care too tough about politics, that’s probably because society is going downhill and they don’t want our help.”

The Sound Clash series was made by Word on the Curb for Channel 4 News.