Good evening! This week's edition of the In Common newsletter comes from Kaitlin Dryburgh, policy and communication director at Common Weal.
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It’s been a strange campaign and election, to say the least.
But the dust has now settled and maybe there’s a bit more optimism lingering in the air. For how long that will last, only time will tell. Yet, for young people it may be one of the first times they’ve had cause for hope.
As a "young" person (I’m not particularly young, just clinging on to my 20s), this is the first time in my voting life that I’ve experienced a change of UK government. The lead up to this election hasn’t been inspiring.
To cast a sweeping generalisation over the whole thing it seems that most know we needed a change and needed to ditch the Tories. Most have felt that the SNP have let them down, so by proxy we’re left with Labour. Perhaps more of a punishment for the other two rather than a vote of confidence for Labour.
Speaking to peers who were not politically active throughout the campaign there was a clear lack of motivation among them. Sighs, shrugs and shakes of the heads were the usual physical response to any of my probing. An overall sense of disillusionment. Of course the people I socialise with aren’t representative of the whole young population (I don’t have that kind of free time...). Yet I felt as if I was hitting on how a lot of people felt.
However, with the election all done and dusted, and the images of Ed Davey going down a slip'n'slide burned into my brain, I’ve picked up on some optimism.
With this being the first time many of the people my age have borne witness to a significant shift in government, perhaps we’re getting swept up in the moment. Perhaps we’re naively buying into the "major change is on the way" messaging. Or maybe Westminster has been such a vehicle of misery for so long that even a waft of positivity has us all hot under the collar.
From some who weren’t that engaged with the campaign, the result has maybe given them the hope that change is possible. Personally for me there’s the hope that for the SNP this pretty major blow might provide the push for them to get it together in time for the Scottish elections. I want them to succeed, but they’ve got to listen. Don’t pacify voters with cosmetic change, evolve and really change. A full factory reset is in order.
The perception for many is that things are in a bad state. How could they get any worse? I’m not naïve enough to seriously ask that question, but from people I’ve asked, any improvement would be appreciated and there’s a real hope that some things might change. This could also be seen as a lowering of standards, but perhaps they just want to be hopeful for once.
There are other reasons for young people to be hopeful. The UK Parliament is the most diverse it has ever been in terms of gender, ethnicity and sexuality. Although this won’t reverse wider inequalities, representation is important and a marker for progress being made.
On the other hand it was hard to ignore that, aside from the Greens, all major political parties are currently fronted by men.
Across the age groups the share vote was fairly spread out among the parties. This made way for the likes of the LibDems to really increase their seats – it seems the Ed Davey slip'n'slide strategy wasn’t that mad after all.
However, as good as it was to see smaller parties make some headway, we have to evaluate the rise of Reform. Which, if a proportional voting system had been used, would have won many more than their current six seats, considering they achieved a staggering 14% of the vote.
Although the younger you are the less likely you are to vote Reform, the two youngest age groups 18-24 and 25-29 still saw nine and 10% voting Reform. There are many points to be taken from that, but it seems that some what with what they were preaching resonated even with the younger generation. Men in these age categories were much more likely to vote Reform than women, that again could be quite telling. Is the disillusionment among young men becoming widespread, and is this something that seriously needs addressing?
Fourteen years of dreadful policies and conduct has been all many young people can remember. And although I, like many, don’t feel we’re seeing the wheel being reinvented, there is hope that maybe it might start moving again.
We might just see more social housing being built, and perhaps it may become a little easier to make your first steps onto the housing ladder. The cost-of-living crisis might loosen its grips and young people might be allowed the chance to be more financial robust. Maybe it’s misplaced, but hope is never a bad thing.
