Visionary

Harry Styles and Ariana Grande are not normally names you would expect your average politician to mention when it comes to their favourite music. But then 26-year-old Maxwell Frost, whose mother is Puerto Rican and whose father is Haitian, is not your average politician. 

On 9 November 2022, a couple of months ahead of his 26th birthday, Frost became the first Afro-Cuban and representative of Gen ZShort for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. to be elected to the US CongressThe legislative branch of the American government, where elected representatives vote on which laws should be passed. Congress is made up of two chambers: the Senate, which contains two members from each of the 50 states, and the House of Representatives, which has representatives from 435 smaller districts. after winning his seat in Florida.  

"We made history for Floridians, for Gen Z, and for everyone who believes we deserve a better future," he tweeted upon hearing the news.

Frost is a Democrat who wants to solve issues such as mass shootings, racism, housing shortages and poverty amongst young people. But it is his age that has made headlines around the world.

At 26, Frost is significantly younger than most other politicians in the House of RepresentativesThe lower chamber of the United States congress. There are 435 representatives, with a certain number allocated to each state based on the state's population..

He is also younger than many senior American politicians as well as politicians elsewhere in the world. The average age of American politicians is roughly 20 years older than most of the population,¹ whilst in Britain, the average age for Cabinet Ministers is 52. 

Frost's election has sparked debate about whether politics should be dominated by older people. Should older people decide what happens for everyone or should we allow younger people to be more involved in those decisions? 

Many believe that young people are better suited to politics as they have new, fresh ideas and - some claim - more energy. 

"I think the old age of legislators is a problem," says former prime minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. "I used to be of the view that people needed to come in to parliaments with some degree of maturity and background. I actually no longer think that. I think a parliament is a place where young people with fresh perspectives should be."

Not everyone however, believes age and maturity should be considered a hindrance. On the contrary, the wisdom and experience that come with age are often thought of as benefits for politicians. "We get better at life as we get older," the American journalist David Brooks once remarked.

The issue is complicated by the fact that how we define youth and old age varies from one person to the next. A 2018 poll found that most Britons believe that "youth" ends at 30 and that people were old by the time they reached the age of 70.² So if we cannot decide on when people become old, how can we decide whether they should be politicians?  

Whatever people's views, most people agree that they want to be represented by someone who understands them. "Now," says Niyah Lowell, a friend of Frost's, "we have someone [in power], who is like us, [and] knows exactly what we're going through".

Yes: Young people are more dynamic, have more energy and have fresher, more innovative ideas. They deserve to be represented as much as anyone else.

No: We need people who bring age, wisdom and experience to lead us. And populations the world over are ageing. Older people need a voice too.

Or... We need to have a combination of both young and older people making our decisions so that all members of society are represented.