Young People and the General Election

 by Isabel F

Despite being too young to vote, I find that the majority of my friends are well informed on, or even actively involved in, the upcoming election. This can be further supported by UK youth's findings, which suggest that 88% of young people believe that it is important for them to have a say in the decisions politicians make regarding public life. However, we cannot be said to represent all young people across the UK. The same report suggests that 9 out of 10 young people aged 8-17yrs see politicians as never or rarely focusing on the needs of young people in their decision-making processes.

These decisions can have a significant impact on our futures, and the contrast between the possible outcomes is stark. Whilst both Labour and the Lib Dems have announced plans to lower the voting age to 16, the Conservatives caused quite an uproar upon announcing their reintroduction of a national service scheme. Having learnt these pieces of information virtually simultaneously, it was clear to me which parties were, and were not, trying to appeal to me, and the younger proportion of the electorate. In fact, some say that the new voter ID restrictions are the Conservatives’ best efforts to hinder them from casting their vote. This can further support the notion that the Conservative Party are by no means hoping for youth support.

Furthermore, the target age ranges of the respective parties have been reinforced by a somewhat unlikely platform: social media. My friends and I enjoy sending each other content about the upcoming general election, or ‘Genny Lex’, as it has been dubbed. Not only have we been able to send each Labour's smear campaigns of Rishi Sunak, but we have also been kept up to date on the fun filled adventures of Ed Davey. Both of these strategies have been described as the parties’ attempts to appeal to younger voters.

We hope we will continue to be engaged and entertained over the coming weeks.

However, many our age are reported to either find the election boring, or have no interest in it at all. In fact, ‘Gen Z are more willing to express their strong moral convictions through civil disobedience than other generations’, according to the National Centre for Social Research. This is understandable, as it could be said that after experiencing ‘Partygate’, many are finding it harder to retain faith in our politicians.

My friends and I will continue to closely follow this election (like the good Politics students that we are), hoping to participate in a mock election, and possibly even a ‘Genny Lex’ sleepover.