James is aiming to be your MEP

HE LOOKS more Hockley than Strasbourg. As James Lowey sips a cup of tea in the basement room of Hockley artist haven Lee Rosy's Teas, he fits right in with the rest of the clientele.

Thin, in a tight, retro-collared shirt and with hair hanging down past the collar and over the ears, the 19-year-old could pass for a pre-Porridge Richard Beckinsale.

A brief walk through his interests reveals a taste for films over the road at the Broadway Cinema and an annual pilgrimage to the Edinburgh Fringe.

But while his sense of style and list of interests are typical of any number of other 19-year-olds, his plans for next year differ greatly: he'd like to be your MEP.

"I've been thinking about getting into politics for a while," he said, "thinking about the best way to do it."

At the moment, the best way to do it involves aligning himself with the Jury Team, a sort of political anti-party that launched just five weeks ago and is looking to use the upcoming European election as a starting point for an experiment.

The Jury Team is not a party in the traditional sense; it has no platforms and allows anybody to stand. If their candidates were elected, they would not be required to get 'on-message'.

"James is the youngest candidate on our list. It's a completely open process," campaign manager Dylan Sharpe said. "There is no party whip, there is no specific manifesto other than we stand for good governance.

"Yes he's young, yes he doesn't have much life experience ... but if he's smart and eloquent, which I think he is, and he listens to the people and goes for their interests in the European Parliament, he'll have a good career in politics."

Jury Team candidates are selected by the public via text-message voting: think US primary mixed with radio station contest.

The Jury Team will support primary winners as independent candidates.

It's a system geared to people who wouldn't normally get a look-in – candidates like a 19-year-old with, needless to say, no prior political experience.

So what if he got in?

James has strong views on issues such as education costs and public transport; talking about the need for better London links and other rail improvements, he could pass for a chamber of commerce veteran.

And he doesn't deny his inexperience – if anything, he's basing the campaign on being disentangled from a seemingly rigid party system that can leave younger voters cold.

Asked about what inspired him to run, he laughs and mentions a current MEP.

James had e-mailed the MEP on changes to European copyright law. It wasn't, he said, a particularly big issue. But in e-mail and response, he got what he felt was an unhelpful brush-off from the politician.

The MEP basically told him, "Look, if you want to change it, get organised and get over to Strasbourg."

And James thought 'Well, okay then...'

That was just weeks ago. Now, the text-message primary is in its final week.

Win or lose, he plans on continuing his political involvement.

He notes the story of Nick Clegg, who started his rise to party leadership as a young (though not teenage) East Midlands MEP. Some friends, meanwhile, imagine other "role models".

"A couple of my friends have jokingly said that I should be the lefty Boris Johnson," he said.

Well, he might not be doing guest appearances on Have I Got News For You? just yet.

But he's got time...

erik.petersen@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk