Call out for younger voters to give an X
UPSTAIRS, above a coffee shop, a group of young people are discussing their frustrations with today’s politics.
“Why should we vote for a government when our voices are not getting heard?”
“There is a lot of corporate-level decision making taking place above our heads.”
“You can’t engage with politicians… It feels like policy makers don’t feel the impact of their policies.”
The young people from all different backgrounds are attending a Democracy Cafe in London’s St James’s organised by youth empowerment organisation My Life My Say and Chatham House.
In a year of crucial elections at almost every level of public life – local, mayoral and eventually general – less than half (47%) of those aged between 16-24 are registered to vote, according to Electoral Commission data. MLMS says this could be as many as four million young people, who together could form the UK’s second city.
IRONY
MLMS notes the deep irony – when this is the voting generation, who are more likely to vote in shows like Love Island, Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity than any other age group.
According to their exclusive research, seven out of 10 young people in the 18-34 age group have voted in a reality show in the past 12 months. And almost HALF of (47%) Brits aged 18-34 think voting in an election has more impact than voting for a reality TV show.
So today, MLMS is launching a cinema ad campaign – #YouAlreadyVoteSoVote.
Sharon Gaffka, 28, a former civil servant turned Violence Against Women and Girls activist who went on Love Island Season 7, says: “You voted for me to go on a date with Chuggs Wallis so now it’s time to vote for something off the screens – your democracy.
“I know it may feel like your vote doesn’t make a difference, but – just like in the Villa – it really can. It’s as simple as voting for Love Island, simply head online to register and it can be done in a matter of minutes.”
Dan Lawes of My Life My Say says: “Voting numbers are drastically down, especially in the 18 to 34-year-old group.
“The real irony is this group already vote. They love to vote.
“Their voting has changed hundreds of lives, whether it’s for someone to have a ‘voice’ on talent shows, for contestants’ safety from evictions or for stars to eat weird things in the jungle – so we need them to vote when it really counts, in elections.”
Yesterday, MLMS also launched the Give an X campaign, ahead of National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, with the #iwill Movement and social change agency Shape History.
The non-partisan Give an X is the UK’s biggest ever youth-led voter registration coalition. Its mission is to ensure every single young person knows when to register, how to register, and when to vote.
The coalition sees youth-orientated brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Spareroom and Lime bikes joining forces with reality stars and Premier League football clubs.
Far from just endorsing the message, the partners are actively engaging with young people in innovative ways. Lime bikes will offer 15,000 free rides to the polls with voting-themed bike wraps. Premier League football clubs are including QR codes to register to vote in their matchday programmes, with a campaign called Don’t Sit on the Sidelines.
A partnership with Fulham FC, campaigners are in talks to expand it to other London clubs ahead of the mayoral elections.
At the Daily Mirror, our Get ID, Get a Vote campaign is reminding voters the rules have changed – and they must bring specific ID to the polling booth on election day or face being disenfranchised.
An estimated six million young people didn’t vote at the last election – a figure reached by comparing polling data from Ipsos Mori. The problem of missing voters is particularly acute in London – with almost one in five Londoners entitled to vote not on the electoral register – the biggest proportion in the country.
Meanwhile, one in four Londoners are thought to be unaware of the ID rules. The Electoral Commission has warned that poorer Londoners, younger Londoners and those from ethnic minority communities were more likely to be affected.
MLMS knows reengaging young people with politics is a tall order.
At the Democracy Cafe I attended at Redemption Roasters – a social impact cafe that helps rehabilitate offenders and runs roasting plants and barista training inside prisons – disillusionment with politics and politicians was palpable. Even among young people who had been persuaded to come and talk about democracy.
One young woman told me: “When you see what Diane Abbott has endured as a Black woman, why would you put yourself through it?”
Another said: “There are so many MPs resigning, that doesn’t look good.”
Another shared: “Youth don’t feel listened to. Politicians need a new language.”
Today’s young people face unique challenges, atomised by low incomes, high rents, Austerity policies and social media, and with social habits entrenched by the pandemic.
Parliament has fallen to rockbottom levels of disrepute after a slew of recent scandals from Partygate to PPE corruption. Meanwhile, hostility online can shut down real discussions about politics. Labour leader Keir Starmer has admitted his party’s biggest challenge is the idea of “a plague on all your houses”.
But sitting discussing politics and how change happens over a free cup of tea or coffee has already been the start of a different journey for more than two million young people in the MLMS network. And now, with a focus on advancing civic education and building an informed, engaged electorate, Give an X aims to shape the political landscape for generations to come.
As My Life My Say says: “If you don’t do politics, politics will do you.”
We need them to vote where it really counts, in elections not just TV shows