As a teenager, I was extremely politically engaged. In fact many people who knew me then would say I was weirdly obsessed with politics.

It would therefore be surprising to some that I have never, in three and a half years in university, engaged with any political societies. I know several people who are active within them, and many are great people, but they are being badly let down by many of their peers.

I recently decided to attend an event organised by a debating society, in which students representing four partisan societies went head-to-head, to discuss their parties’ policies for the Senedd election (it was supposed to be five, but one apparently withdrew without notice).

Before the debate even started, one of the Greens’ representatives was kicked out for verbally abusing the person I attended with, after she mentioned Zack Polanski’s hypnosis antics during an informal chat.

Very thin skinned to do that when someone says your leader has done weird things, but what do I know?

What he said is too obscene to publish but is indicative of the misogyny that exists in certain circles, especially in those which preach their own ‘progressiveness’. This incident wasn’t isolated.

I stress that it is very possible to be progressive without being a misogynist, most manage it, but it is a trend I have noticed. Actions speak louder than words. Don’t preach progressiveness if you speak to women like that.

Aside from that, the debate was totally uninspiring. Aside from the flagship policies of the parties, no one seemed to know what they were talking about. Most of the participants were well-spoken but there wasn’t any substance.

Every policy the Conservative pairing mentioned was very quickly slapped down by the audience and the other parties. Labour’s representatives fared a little better, being much more able to defend their party’s positions but were far from convincing. Plaid’s were very confident but I thought their segments were highly choreographed. I won’t judge the sole Green, other than to say he clearly struggled without his sidekick.

I pondered for a while afterwards, and I asked myself: is this the future of politics?

So many current senior politicians were heavily involved in Students’ Unions and student politics, so there’s very good reason to believe that the current batch will one day follow.

The recent elections to Students’ Union committees around the UK are another demonstration of the woeful state of youth politics. Several candidates, with almost identical platforms, fighting a popularity contest among the small minority of students who even bother voting in these things. The sabbatical officers will serve a year or more, fully paid, and then have an easy route into the Students’ Union grift, or if they’re lucky their political party will snap them up and dump them in a safe seat somewhere.

My historical experience of student wannabe politicians was limited but very negative. This latest experience compounds it for me. It is dominated by people who should be nowhere near a serious office. Many are people who can’t take even the slightest criticism without making the argument personal, and whose understanding of policies and their impact on the public seems rudimentary, if present at all.

I seriously worry for the future of out politics. May’s Senedd election might give us a sneak peek but come the 2030s we’ll really see the culture and ‘talent’ that student politics plays host to.

Needless to say, I won’t be going to any student-led debates again. That was three hours I’ll never get back!