Alfie McKenzie, 14 Year Old Voter
A 14-year-old committing a crime is not uncommon – but few do it by voting, as Alfie McKenzie did. Writing on guardian.co.uk, the Lancashire teen tells why he chose to flout the law to become the first 14-year-old to vote in an election, and why he's enjoying his Warholian 15 minutes of fame.
McKenzie, a fresh-faced teenager who refers to David Cameron as "Dave" and calls himself a "socialist democrat", describes "a specific look of disappointment" from fellow teens when he talked politics and then his brazen effort to con polling staff, who fell hook, line and sinker for his makeshift disguise.
He writes: "I dressed as much like a Tory as I could manage: a trenchcoat, reading glasses, sharp shoes. I gave it my slightly eccentric aristocrat's walk and my best self-righteous Conservative accent, walked into St Hilda's polling station, went straight to the table and was directed to the slip which I was to cross."
After being mistakenly put on the electoral register, McKenzie had decided to vote Liberal Democrat. But somewhat strangely for someone who broke the law, he believes in fair play. "The country clearly wanted change. As an illegal voter I had no right to go against that," he says.
Fortunately for McKenzie, whose crime was discovered after he confided in a teacher who "didn't see the funny side", the police are not planning to prosecute him.
Instead of a "fast road to becoming a convict", he now fancies a future in politics.
"I would be delighted if some of Clegg's party or Brown's party would get in touch with me," he says.
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