What young voters think of Prime Minister's Questions

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Kodjo and Mel

Disrespectful, informative, like being in a zoo - all ways young voters used to describe Prime Minister's Questions, or PMQs as it is known.

It happens every Wednesday when the House of Commons is sitting.

MPs get the chance to question the prime minister about stuff that's going on in their constituencies as well as national issues.

And it's famous for getting very noisy, with politicians literally shouting at each other across the room.

Image source, PA
Image caption,

Prime Minister David Cameron at PMQs

Six young voters from BBC Generation 2015 sat with Newsbeat to watch the final PMQs before the General Election. This is what they thought.

Kodjo, 23, London

"I watch it occasionally - I kind of got into it during my gap year before university.

"I've always found it a bit populist. A lot of the politicians come in there with their pre-prepared gags and one-liners.

"I think when you look beyond the antics and all the jeering - sometimes the frankly amateurish behaviour from the professional MPs - when you look beyond that then it can actually be quite informative.

"Overall it's something we should definitely keep. It's a quirky thing, it's very British. In terms of being able to hold your prime minister accountable even if only for half an hour a week - I think it's something that a lot of countries actually envy."

Keesha, 21, London

"Today was my first time watching PMQs. It didn't appeal to me [before]. And even today when I tried to watch it, I can't really understand it.

"It made me feel like they were disrespecting the UK population... it's like a 'don't care' sort of attitude - let me just answer these questions, make them sound amazing, and have a snigger and a dig at people on my way.

"And I feel like that's really not passionate, especially because they're dealing with the future of the UK.

"It's a whole country full of millions of people and they think it's funny, that's so heartbreaking for me. I feel really disappointed in it."

Mel, 24, Liverpool

Mel has watched PMQs "a few times" before.

"It infuriates me that it seems they're taking it so lightly when they're talking about really important issues.

"It makes me so angry. It's like they don't take it seriously and I know they do and that's what the most annoying thing is.

"But when people start taking little clips of David Cameron saying, 'You don't need it to be Christmas to know when you're sitting next to a turkey!' and people make that into videos online... that's what's getting spread on social media and that's a horrible impression for young people to have of people who are leading the country."

Jodie, 23, South Wales

"I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it.

"I just think it's a bit of a pantomime. It sort of trivialises the real issues that are going on.

"I understand that on some levels they need to be seen as human and having a sense of humour. But there's having a sense of humour and there's being in a zoo. What sort of example is that setting for people to think that they can actually get away with that kind of behaviour?

"I feel like David Cameron and Ed Miliband went out of their way to prepare slanders and insults to each other so they could just have a bit of one-upmanship and get a bit of a giggle from everybody else. That isn't what it should be about."

Royce, 23, Grimsby

"I watch PMQs once every two or three months, but I regularly watch highlights on YouTube and on the BBC website.

"I do think it's still informative despite all the Punch and Judy politics.

"Originally I kind of thought it was important, it was a massive part of politics, and it was an opportunity for MPs to hold the prime minister and cabinet to account.

"Now I'm kind of thinking accountability isn't maybe one of the core goals of PMQs.

"Although people were asking the prime minister questions, those questions were obviously staged.

"The attitude was very disrespectful... These are the ambassadors for our country, for our constituencies - certainly they should be behaving a bit more formal than that."

Matt, 19, Kent

Matt watches PMQs about once every two or three weeks.

"I think on paper they're a very good idea because they let the less prominent MPs hold the prime minister to account and bring local issues to the fore.

"But I think in practice they don't really work like that. It's a bit contrived and formulaic. You always know David Cameron and Ed Miliband are going to shout at each other.

"I don't think it's very representative of what people want to hear about some of the time."

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