BY the time you read this, it will all be over.

Either Tony's enjoying his landslide and William is watching his back, or the Conservatives have surprised us all and have shown opinion polls to be a waste of time.

Whoever is governing Britain will claim they have a mandate from the British people.

I presume, though, they won't include that group aged 18 to 25 years-old.

Once again only a small minority will have taken up their democratic right to chose the next Government.

All the parties have again failed to make any connection with younger people, who on the whole view politicians as some kind of alien race.

Issues that affect the age group such as student loans, affordable housing and jobs were hardly mentioned as public services and taxation dominated the campaign.

Labour did make a few patronising efforts to connect through mobile phone text messages. There was a picture of William Hague made up of a few squiggles.

They also socialised with every celebrity who was willing to be seen in the hope that adding some glamour would add some votes.

As nobody wants to be a 'Young Tory', the Conservatives did not make any effort. And without the popular Paddy Pantsdown, the Liberal Democrats failed to ignite their traditional enthusiasm on the campuses

But the reasons for the failure to ignite any enthusiasm with 'Generation X' goes deeper.

Many do not have any sense that voting is a civic responsibility, even if there is no legal obligation to go to the ballot box. Education, as in most cases, is the key.

Pupils should be taught from an early age that voting is important.

Politics should be as essential to the national curriculum as English. Most youngsters have no understanding of the democracy they are living in until their A-levels.

That's too late.

But if youngsters are going to make the effort, party leaders must also do more.

Wouldn't it be a good idea to have some sort of Ministry of Youth, where people could see there was someone who was prepared to speak up for their interests, whether it was jobs or affordable homes?

That person would be there to fight to get a slice of Government spending.

If the interests of younger people are taken seriously, then we might start to see them taking voting seriously.

But with the population getting older and older, perhaps those in power think those votes are not worth the effort.