Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell believes Britain’s political parties will not take young people seriously until they vote in large numbers.

He said: “The parties are shockingly poor at engaging with the younger generation and don’t make a great deal of effort at all.

“One of things I say when I go to schools is that it’s very important that young people vote, because the parties won’t make an effort until they do.”

The Croydon Central MP admits it is a constant challenge to connect with everyone in his consistency but feels some politician’s attempts to converse with teenagers is “cringe worthy”.

He said: “The most important thing is not to pretend to be down with the kids.”

“I see some politicians pretend that they’re still young themselves on Twitter, which is all rather cringe worthy. But we don’t receive any social media training so sometimes we make mistakes.”

“I think what young people are looking for is someone that will engage, listen and show a detailed understanding of what their issues might be.”

Barwell says that the concept of ‘party politics’ often alienates young people but believes that such arguments and disputes help maintain a sustained level of interest.

He said: “People often say that Prime Minister’s Questions is very childish but it’s also the main aspect of politics that they want to watch.”

“If we all simply got up, delivered our speeches and sat there in silence it would be very dull.”

“You need a healthy balance. I think some kind of reaction when you agree or disagree with something is important, even funny interjections help add to the debate and improve the spectacle.”

The relationship between young people and the world of politics has been at an all time low since the Liberal Democrats broke their party's pledge to oppose increasing student tuition fees.

Barwell said: “The Lib Dems made a serious error and there’s no getting away from that.”

“However, the tuition fee debate is interesting because all three parties have been against it in opposition but for it in government, which only confuses matters.”

Barwell claims that the real error of judgement was not utilising their position in power to ensure they lived up to their promise.

He said: “In my view, the really big mistake they made was not insisting David Cameron abolished tuition fees. Cameron would have done it because it would have been a small price to pay for the coalition.”

“Nick Clegg would have been in a much stronger position today but instead they chose a referendum on the voting system because that is something they wanted and not their supporters.”

“It’s the classic politician mistake of doing something your fellow politicians and activists care about, without thinking about the people who actually voted for you.”

Barwell himself is keen to restore people’s faith in politics and made the pledge to publicise his expenses records in the aftermath of the scandal that rocked the country in 2009.

He said: “We live in a word that is a lot less deferential and trusting, people won’t assume that I’ve been a good MP.”

“I have to show that I’m not on the make and the only way to do that is through complete transparency.”

“You can no longer rely on the system as a defence. Just because such claims in the past were genuine and subsequently approved, it doesn’t mean they’ll stand up in light of public scrutiny.”

“I have to be absolutely sure that I can defend what I am doing because it will be the only way that I can reinstate confidence.”