BY JACK WELCH

Whether it is looking at news coverage with annoyance, or plain disinterest what might be the latest twist in this election campaign, it is almost certainly better to react in one way other than the assumed apathy which has come to define young voters aged 18-25.

To my mind, it is surely not sustainable, not simply out of the wider public attitude that has developed after analysis of turnout, but it is especially unhealthy for democracy when 43 per cent (from the 2015 election) are choosing to exercise their right.

Over the broader levels of young voters in previous elections dating back to 1992, there was a 66 per cent turnout at the ballot box, with just 38 per cent by 2005.

That in itself is a decline of 28 per cent of new generations who felt their vote to be worthwhile. The cause behind this drop in participation should not be oversimplified by the common excuse of young people being too lazy.

Perhaps underneath that is an element in which votes are taken for granted and parties have long been happy to scrape by whatever gives them a sufficient majority to govern, never mind how new voters should be inclined to cast their votes.

We need to reassert why voting should be a natural part of our lives, whether it is policy that affects our curriculum in schools or access to housing, politics has a centre role across the board.

With a notable 246,000 under- 25s registering on the deadline day for this election alone, it is time we made a noise come polling day.