What is political contact?

Political contact is the name given to activities where citizens and politicians engage with each other. This could be through face-to-face conversations, or through alternatives such as email, social media or letters. In our work we specialise in youth political contact, supporting young people and politicians to engage, primarily in schools. Youth political contact takes place every day, with politicians engaging with young people in places such as youth organisations and schools in their constituency. However, very little attention has historically been given to how youth political contact can be designed to maximise its impact for both politicians and young people. Five years ago, we set out to reimagine one key component of youth political contact - the school visit. We have piloted and scaled a process through our Digital Surgeries programme that seeks to maximise the impact of a political engagement for young people, teachers and politicians.