UK election: Youths urge their peers to vote, as right-wing Reform Party gains popularity

CLACTON-ON-SEA, England: Young Britons have grown up amid a global pandemic, deep cuts in public services, and one of the worst cost-of-living crises in recent memory.

These factors are fuelling fears that youths will avoid voting at the United Kingdom’s general election on Thursday (Jul 4), which means their concerns could be ignored by politicians.

Millions will have the chance to vote for a member of parliament for the first time.

Already, young adults are voting less than the average UK voter. Only about half of those aged 18 to 24 go to the ballot box, compared with around 60 to 70 per cent of other age groups.

ENCOURAGING FELLOW YOUTHS TO VOTE

Some youths are taking matters into their own hands to tackle this problem.

In East London, those at non-partisan, non-democracy group My Life My Say are campaigning to get their peers to cast their ballots.

Lucy Newman, a squad leader from the group, said the initiative focuses on telling young people that voting concerns them.

“You don't need to know about politics. You don't need to be interested in politics. It's about your life and what matters to you,” she added.

“That's why (we’re) doing the campaign ‘Give an X’. What do you ‘Give an X’ about? What’s important to you?”

When CNA spoke to young voters in London, they expressed concerns over issues like mental health and the state of the National Health Service (NHS) – the UK’s publicly funded healthcare systems.

“The NHS has been ruined by the Conservatives. There's so many strikes by nurses, doctors… because of the Conservatives. We need a pay rise for nurses,” said an 18-year-old.

To reach the young voters, My Life My Say has been using social media to its advantage.

Its head of partnerships Dan Lawes said: “Our media spokespeople are all young.

“We’ve got young people on digital, really getting the message across to their peers that as a generation, collectively, we really need to stand up.”

That has meant convincing trusted influencers and celebrities to publicly talk about the benefits of voting, working with apps familiar to Gen Zs to encourage participation, and posting advertisements on social media platforms that young voters use the most – including TikTok and Instagram.

REFORM PARTY GAINING POPULARITY

The youngest voters in the UK are likely unable to remember a government other than one helmed by the Conservative Party, which has been in power for 14 years. 

But the ruling Tories are not expected to win their support in the current atmosphere of uncertainty and pessimism.

This has been apparent outside urban centres, like in the coastal town of Clacton-on-Sea on England’s east coast.

A relatively new political force has been capturing the attention of youngsters there – the right-wing Reform Party led by Nigel Farage, who is running for a parliamentary seat in Clacton.

This is particularly notable in a country where the young tend to vote for left-wing parties.

Farage has called the “rapidly growing” support among young voters “truly remarkable”. 

While the party’s social media campaign has convinced many young voters, it is Farage himself who seems to have struck a chord. The 60-year-old has the highest number of followers by far on TikTok among UK politicians.

In one TikTok video, he told his audience: “If you're wondering why you can’t get a house, why rents are up 20 per cent in the last three years, if you're wondering why your granny can’t get a (medical) appointment – it's because we have a population explosion … The most affected group are the young people of this country.”

Farage and his party have also based their campaign around the fact that Brexit was not properly implemented, which is the “elephant in the room”, said Paul Pickering, professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at Australian National University.

He told CNA’s Asia First programme: “A lot of other commentators would say that a lot of the problems that the British economy is now facing – its labour market and so forth – are as a result of Brexit, but it's just no one really wants to go there again. 

“That's something that no one's really prepared to talk about."

Young voters told CNA that the party’s message has resonated with them.

A 19-year-old Clacton resident cited housing as the main issue plaguing his town, adding that he is considering voting for Reform.

“From what I've heard, they're giving us the most opportunities … for young people like me to make a future for ourselves,” he added.

Even among those who are still too young to vote, the party’s strategy is working.

A 16-year-old said: “Especially people our age, no one really – say four or five years ago, when social media wasn’t as big – was looking at all the parties and the poll results. No teenager was really worried about that.

“But now that's all covered on social media like TikTok. That's actually of interest to a lot of people my age. And you want to have a decision in it as well.”