Poll: Are women right to say there is no reason to be interested in politics?

The poll claims the overwhelming majority of young female voters instead see MPs as "self-interested, deceitful and power hungry".

It also revealed some young women would rather vote for reality TV star Joey Essex than either Prime Minister David Cameron or Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

• Are women right to say there is no reason to be interested in politics? Vote in our poll and have your say in the comment box below.

The research, based on 1,000 millennial women aged between 18 and 30, also found that two in five would be more willing to vote if there was "less lying and spin and if we had politicians they admired and trusted".

One in eight said they wanted a "completely new system" while 62 per cent of those surveyed agreed with Russell Brand, who recently called the British political system "broken".

Charlotte Barnes, who was the youngest Shropshire councillor when she was elected in Bishop's Castle at the age of 29 in 2011, today said she could understand why young women felt disenchanted. "There aren't many female politicians around, although we are certainly on the rise," she said.

Relate

"People like to vote for someone they can relate to, certainly I have found that to be the case on a local level. People see me at the school gates, picking up my kids, they know I am a small business owner with the same feelings, worries and concerns as them.

"They say we will vote for you Charlotte, because we know you. They want to vote for someone they can relate to."

US President Barack Obama was overwhelmingly the most admired political figure alive or dead in the poll, followed by Hilary Clinton and Margaret Thatcher.

Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg polled just one per cent each, while three per cent told the survey for women's magazine Cosmopolitan they would vote for Towie star Joey Essex in a line up of alternative candidates.

Louise Court, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, said: ""In the phase of their lives that should be the most carefree, millennial women are feeling huge concerns about work, unemployment and debt – and no one is listening.

"British politicians have a huge disconnect with young women and have a big fight on their hands if they want to win the battle for the millennial vote. The sad reality is that more and more women will become disengaged as we reach the general election. I fear this means few will turn out to vote."

National Union of Students president Toni Pearce added: "Our leaders just aren't representative of the society we live in – men outnumber women four to one in Parliament."

Trust is an issue for women:

Women want more politicians like them – people they can engage with and who they can trust.

That was the message from the streets of one Shropshire town, where most admitted they knew little and cared event less about politics.

For mother-of-one Sian Pritchard, 23, and her friend Keri Llewellyn, 21, both from Church Stoke, politics simply does not interest them. Sian said: "We are just not interested. It is not something we have really thought about.

"We don't really follow politics because it's boring."

For 25-year-old hairdresser Hayley Perkin, from Telford, politics is a far more loaded question. She said: "There are a lot of things I don't agree with within politics when it comes to the policies that effect women every single day. There should definitely be more women in politics because we would have better representation.

"I really struggled to get a smear test when I needed it because I was considered too young, it's stuff like that which makes me so angry.

"I don't follow politics religiously but I like to keep on top of the things that effect me."

Annemaire Enright, 25, from Shoplatch, believes politics isn't relevant to her life.

The care-worker said: "I have no clue about politics, I think it boils down to personal opinion. I don't really care if I'm being honest."

Bank managers Faye Evans and Beth Davies are hopeful that with the next round of elections, more women will be able to have their voices heard.

They said: "There should definitely be more women involved because they could accurately represent us.

"We don't follow it religiously but there is lots of things within politics that need to change."

People fought and died to get the vote:

The Shropshire Star's Shirley Tart has been involved in politics for a lifetime. She explains why it is our duty to vote:

In a poll this week, more young women said they would back reality TV star Joey Essex in an election rather than Nick Clegg – and Lib Dem local results tend to confirm that.

While most of those aged between18 and 30 who were questioned said they would rather vote for politicians who are from other countries or dead. How tragically comic is that?

Whatever the reasons it is not just sad that so many are disenfranchised, it is wrong. And sorry all you non-voters, I really mean that.

When we look at the history of how women got the vote at all and the price paid by so many, Suffragettes and others, it is shameful to think that we would either ignore it or simply not care.

By doing that, we relinquish the right for any say in the running, or future, of our country. You've got to be in it to win it, folks.

Many say they feel unable to vote for any candidates as they don't know anything about them (candidate having made nil effort in that direction) or know too much about them (candidate with a history of behaving badly or simply being stupid) and don't like or trust what they do know.

If that's how you feel, then write "none of the above" on the ballot paper. But go to the polling station and do your civic duty. At least you turned up, made the effort and also made your point.

In my late teens, I was at the Conservative conference in Blackpool when Prime Minister Harold Macmillan didn't turn up but Alec Douglas-Home (clearly the chosen one) did, with Mac's apologies. Nice Douglas-Home also eventually took over – though never won an election in his own right as leader – but not before Lord Hailsham had started ringing his bell and renouncing his title and the great politician Iain Macleod, had also thrown his hat into the party leader's ring.

It was history being made and I reckon it helped form and sustain my interest in politics.

But a more significant moment came in 1994 when I covered the first South African free elections. I shall never forget seeing people waiting patiently to vote for the first time. They had waited so long, another few hours queuing was nothing. And for those lovely, dignified people alone, I would never waste my vote.