The General Elections saw the Labour Party gain 32 more seats, more than much of the nation had ever foreseen. It was one of the greatest voter turnouts for any election in the UK for a long time, but more so for young people.
The narrative that has always been fed is that ‘young people don’t care about politics’ or ‘they don’t know enough to have a say’. This was put to the test, as the vigorous campaigning of Jeremy Corbyn managed to invigorate approximately 63% of 18-34 year-olds to vote Labour. However, there is more going on here behind these figures than ‘data analysts’ care to admit. Jeremy Corbyn has become the vox populi of the disenfranchised youth, his mandate and means to achieve a more prosperous society for everyone in the UK undoubtedly resonated with the youth.
It is no secret that young people are more empathetic than their two-piece suit wearing 45 year-old counterparts; the majority of young people are against the proactive use of Trident, but a large sect of society somehow believes blowing up more than 500,000 people is a ‘deterrent’. Yes I know what Game Theory is, no, that does not justify blowing people up more than we already wrongfully do.
In the midst of recent events, Labour has been capitalising on the inadequacies of the Conservatives, their regimented austerity has no doubt played a monumental role in the Grenfell Tower tragedy. It is an amalgamation of the asinine legislations and utter disregard for human life that has finally woken up the public, to how toxic a Conservative government has been to the country. However, the key people affected by this recent influx of events countrywide is young people, yet again.
More and more, things are happening that are of relevance to the young people in the UK. With the wide resources available online, they are doing their own research, formulating their own opinion and understanding who and why they want in power. For the vast majority, this happens to be Jeremy Corbyn. His genuine demeanour and rhetoric has transcended the Labour Party, he has become the millennial equivalent of Che Guevara as an icon; chants of his name are being heard as far and wide as Glastonbury.
This is the beginning of an emergence of a new generation of politically involved youth, and they will set the precedent for their successors. It is Rupert Murdoch and the Conservatives’ worst nightmare, because the last thing they want is socially conscious youth with the outreach of millions to disrupt their stranglehold on the country. The youth of the UK have more power than they recognise, and now that they are seeing how they can influence elections, it will continue.
The Revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.
