By Jane Peel On the BBC election bus in Northampton

These Northampton sixth formers will be voting for the first time

These are not the words of a weary old cynic.

They come from the mouth of Gemma Harris, aged 18.

Gemma is eligible to vote for the first time this week, and the experience of her first election campaign has left her feeling a little disenchanted.

Gemma admits she is not big on politics.

She has tried to follow the issues but she says it's been too much about personalities and negative campaigning.

"I want to vote and I will vote, but I don't have a clue who for" she says.

Gemma is an A-level student at Northampton School for Boys (they take girls in the sixth form).

She's one of a group of first-time voters who've agreed to tell me what they think.

Politicians have just got to start talking more about issues. I don't think we're particularly concerned about personalities as much as the politicians think. Ben Coleman, student Compare issues at a glance

That they are prepared to speak out illustrates that they are not apathetic teenagers. They are just frustrated.

"Politicians have just got to start talking more about issues," says Ben Coleman, who's studying politics at A-level.

"Ideology and issues have to be clear cut and defined in order to gain our interest.

I don't think we're particularly concerned about personalities as much as the politicians think.

I just don't think we are that Americanised as a culture."

Your views on politicians, trust and disillusionment In pictures

Matthew Greet agrees. He's not surprised that some people have either lost interest in politics or no longer trust politicians.

"This isn't the 1970s or 1980s," he says, speaking of an era he knows only from the history books.

"Then Labour was a Socialist party and there was a new Right. People saw the difference between Labour and the Conservatives.

They saw the value in their vote. They were voting for what they believed in, they weren't just voting for a face."

Falling turnouts

So will voters turn out in force on Thursday?

In the 2001 election just 59 per cent of electors voted.

In every General Election before that dating back to 1945 the turnout was in excess of 70 per cent.

"2001 was very unusual. It followed almost ten years of massive Labour leads in the polls," says Dr John Bartle, from the Department of Government at the University of Essex.

"Everyone knew the winner.

APATHY: A POPULAR VOTE In 2001 the overall UK turnout was 59.4%, the lowest recorded since 1945 18m of the 44m people eligible to vote did not �26,689,901 was spent on campaigning by 36 political parties Source: Electoral Commission Election campaign - your verdict

Tories knew their candidate had no chance.

Labour voters knew that they could stay at home and still have a Labour MP and a Labour Government".

Dr Bartle says there are other reasons for the drop in turnout.

The parties agree on many issues, party organisations have declining membership, there are fewer canvassers and fewer posters put up.

The only exception, he says, is in the marginal constituencies where effort goes in and the voters do come out.

"Who comes to the party?" he asks. "The people who are invited".

There have been attempts to counter apathy.

One is the promotion of postal voting.

Volunteers counting postal votes

In the two constituencies in Northampton, more than 4 times as many people have applied for a postal vote this time around as those who did in 2001.

It follows a pilot scheme here during the last European Parliament election when the only way to cast a vote was by post. Turnout doubled.

Postal voting is prone to fraud and corruption, however, as witnessed by recent events in Birmingham and elsewhere.

Ironically, something designed to encourage more people to vote, has badly affected confidence in the electoral system.

Enthralling?

Ross Thompson, the Electoral Services Manager for Northampton Borough Council, says they do everything they can to ensure the validity of the vote.

He's not sure any further changes to boost voting figures, for example allowing internet voting, would be a good idea.

"The more different avenues we have, the more chance we have of mistakes and fraud," he says.

"You have got to check one system against the other so people are not voting in more than one system."

Mr Thompson says it isn't up to the officials to boost election turnout.

"It's up to the politicians to enthrall the electorate to come out to vote," he says.

Alfred Ridley is less than impressed with modern politics

Enthralled, Alfred Ridley isn't.

A pensioner from Towcester in Northants, he was a member of the Conservative Party in the 1970s, but says he has no allegiance now.

He has forthright views on what he calls the "two-party House of Commons".

"I think they are a lousy bunch of rotters - a waste of time and money."

Does he trust any of the political leaders? "Not really".

Mr Ridley says he will still vote. It's something he's always done, a habit he won't break.

"I shall vote for the one most likely to do the least damage," he says.