Many young people in Braintree are looking forward to taking part in their first General Election – although some 18- year-olds admit they will not be voting.

Business students at Braintree College have been enjoying lively political debates in class, busting the myth that all young people are apathetic.

Sonny Murphy, 18, said he has already decided to vote Conservative.

He said: “I thought about Labour, but I was told that Labour were not good for the economy.

“It would be good for the working class, but it wouldn’t be good for the economy.

"The Conservatives are getting us back on track.

“The economy is under control, it’s stable. It would be pointless to undo that by bringing Labour in.”

However, Lucy Smith, 18, said she had not registered to vote.

She said: “I don’t really think about it much. My mum doesn’t know who she wants to vote for.

“I think as for the government now, the Conservatives are doing a good job. Next time, when I know more about it, I will probably vote.”

Olivia Pike, 17, is angry that she cannot vote, even though the new government is likely to affect her life for the next five years.

She said: “If we are being told to stay in education until we are 18 why can’t we have the right to vote?"

Olivia said she did not know who she would vote for if she could, but she knew who she would not choose.

She said: “Ukip are so unfair.  Idon’t think they are thinking about everyone.

"They say about stopping foreign people coming here, but we are all humans.

“They really wind me up.

"In the debates, they would be talking about money or the deficit but everything always goes back to foreign people.

“Nigel Farage is concerned about foreign people wanting to come here, but if you look, they do a lot of the work that English people don’t want to do.”

Luke Coppin, 19, is another student who did not register to vote, although he said the idea of Ed Miliband running the country worried him.

He said: “Ed just doesn’t look likeavery good leader.

"He looks like someone out of Wallace and Gromit.

“He does have some good views on freezing household bills.

“In our house we are just not that bothered.”