In addition to their unpredictability and their ability to wreak havoc on currency markets, some of the most significant votes in recent years have had something distinct in common: how we’re often told that it will all come down to the so-called “youth vote”. Whether it was the vote on the UK’s exit from the EU or the US presidential election, we’re told that, if enough young people vote, the outcome could change considerably, and in the way young people want.
To make such a point, this “youth vote” needs to be clearly unified. We’ve seen recently that this is indeed the case, with young people mostly anti-Trump or anti-Brexit, and notably pro-Jeremy Corbyn in last week’s UK general election. In Ireland, this vote sought marriage equality and is now largely seeking a repeal of the eighth amendment. The divide in attitudes between young and old, we’re told, has never been larger. And if, as many publications claim, the generation gap is the largest political divide in modern Britain, young people simply cannot fail to show up if they want a society that even vaguely resembles what they believe in.
These young people turned out in the UK last week. Queues outside of polling stations in university towns helped swing key seats, resulting in a major political upset and giving Labour its biggest vote share increase since 1954. The turnout of young people is estimated at 72 per cent, compared to an overall turnout of just under 70 per cent. Headlines around the world, from the Guardian to the Mirror to the New York Times, are claiming that the youth vote is what changed this election, and perhaps the future of Brexit and UK – and maybe even European – politics as a result.
After the Brexit result, when young people were derided for not turning up for a vote that affected them the most, there appears to have been something of a wakeup moment. This must be sustained. Keeping this momentum and making such headlines normal comes from voting and campaigning, from consistent engagement with representatives and proper organisation to produce unified voices.
Corbyn chanced targeting the youth vote and it worked. But until politicians can clearly see, year after year, vote after vote, large and sustained numbers of young people heading to the polls, most won’t bother to treat it like a group that’s worth making promises to.
This cannot be seen as an outlier, a once-off case of payback for Brexit. Unless the youth vote can be maintained, and is no longer seen as an anomaly, our progress can be too easily reversed.
