{"id":83790,"date":"2024-06-29T05:06:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T05:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/29\/the-whole-country-is-falling-to-bits-britains-young-voters-are-frustrated\/"},"modified":"2024-06-29T05:06:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T05:06:04","slug":"the-whole-country-is-falling-to-bits-britains-young-voters-are-frustrated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/29\/the-whole-country-is-falling-to-bits-britains-young-voters-are-frustrated\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Whole Country Is Falling to Bits\u2019: Britain\u2019s Young Voters Are Frustrated"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/29\/multimedia\/29uk-election-youth-01-qzck\/29uk-election-youth-01-qzck-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\u2018The Whole Country Is Falling to Bits\u2019: Britain\u2019s Young Voters Are Frustrated\" title=\"\u2018The Whole Country Is Falling to Bits\u2019: Britain\u2019s Young Voters Are Frustrated\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As the flag of a British workers union flapped behind him on a blustery June morning, Liam Kehoe was on strike with colleagues outside Royal Liverpool University Hospital, demanding better pay for porters, cleaners and catering staff. Their wages have failed to keep up with the surge in the cost of living, and many said they were living paycheck to paycheck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kehoe, 26, serves food in the hospital. On Thursday, the day of Britain\u2019s general election, he plans to vote for the center-left Labour Party because of the economic situation and the crumbling state of the National Health Service, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Thinking of the life that his parents built on salaries earned as a nurse and a truck driver, Mr. Kehoe says that young people have been left with far worse prospects after 14 years of a Conservative-led government. \u201cIf you go back 30 years ago, houses were a bit more affordable, life was a little bit easier,\u201d he said. \u201cNowadays, it\u2019s like you can\u2019t afford anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Polls suggest more than half of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/interactive\/uk-general-election\/polls\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">voters under 35 plan to vote for Labour<\/a> on Thursday, compared with 27 percent of voters over 65. While the gap between young and old in politics is not new, the extent of the split in Britain in recent years is exceptional, with support for the governing Conservative Party dropping sharply in all but the oldest age group, according to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/06\/24\/world\/europe\/uk-conservatives.html\" title=\"\">recent polls<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Before 2019, the major factor in whether people voted Conservative or Labour <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.resolutionfoundation.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Poll-position.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">was income<\/a>. More recently, \u201cage has replaced class as the defining way in which people vote,\u201d said Molly Broome, an economist with the Resolution Foundation, a British research institute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The northern English city of Liverpool has long been a Labour stronghold with a proud working-class tradition. Many young people said their allegiance to the center-left party has been strengthened by a sense that their needs have been ignored by the Conservatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kehoe and his girlfriend are trying to buy a home. \u201cThe housing market is on its knees,\u201d he said. \u201cThe whole country is falling to bits because this government is in it for them and not in it for us. They don\u2019t care about us, the little guys at the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Others expressed broader discontent at a political system that they said did not account for their needs. Some young people said they would not vote at all, while others would cast ballots for third-party candidates who had little chance of winning more than a few seats but whose ethos was more aligned with theirs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Much of the political messaging from Britain\u2019s two main parties has focused on the priorities of older generations, experts said, since they make up a large proportion of the electorate, partly because of population shifts. They are also more likely to vote: Some 96 percent of people over 65 are registered to vote, compared with 60 percent of 18- to 19-year-olds and 67 percent of those 20 to 44, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.electoralcommission.org.uk\/research-reports-and-data\/electoral-registration-research\/accuracy-and-completeness-electoral-registers\/2023-report-electoral-registers-uk\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according to a 2023<\/a> electoral commission report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Politicians have safeguarded some policies that support older people, even as younger generations face worsening standards of living. The pension \u201ctriple lock,\u201d for instance, introduced by the Conservative-led government in 2011, ensures that the state retirement income \u2014 similar to Social Security in the United States \u2014 rises each year by the highest of earnings growth, inflation or 2.5 percent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While age remains the major dividing factor in support for the two main political parties, there are also divisions within the younger generation, Ms. Broome said. Labour has had a positive swing in polls across all generations, except among millennials who did not graduate from university and those who do not own a home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s not the fact that they are more likely to vote Conservative; it\u2019s the fact that they are less likely to vote at all,\u201d Ms. Broome said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Owen Burrows, 21, a porter at the Liverpool hospital, does not plan to vote, he said, despite it being the first general election for which he is eligible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI just can\u2019t say there is anyone I actually agree with, so I really wouldn\u2019t be inclined to vote,\u201d he said. He remembers being \u201cbaffled\u201d in 2016 when the country voted to withdraw from the European Union.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWith the state the country is in now, and with the whole Brexit situation, it just feels like it\u2019s gone completely wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Brexit looms large for many. In Liverpool\u2019s Baltic Triangle, a former warehouse district with a thriving creative scene, young men skateboarded in the evening light. The rhythmic roll of their skateboard wheels echoed off brightly painted walls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One of the skateboarders, Joe McKenna, 26, was the first in his family to go to university. In the Brexit referendum, his first vote, he opted to remain, while both of his parents voted to leave.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI think that was the first time I noticed a divide between what my parents think about and what I think about,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, we don\u2019t really talk about it, because it\u2019s happened and I think they know it\u2019s not a good situation. But I don\u2019t blame them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With the fallout of Brexit in mind, he plans to vote Labour in the upcoming election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI see them as the lesser of two evils,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of working-class people voted Tory in the last election because they convinced them there would be change. And, obviously, with Brexit, that swayed a lot of opinions toward the Conservative Party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Housing is another focus of discontent. Some 70 percent of young British people say they believe the dream of homeownership is over for many in their generation, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/cps.org.uk\/research\/justice-for-the-young\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according to a study from the Center for Policy Studies<\/a>, a British research group. And the data backs up that view: Thirty-nine percent of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/ifs.org.uk\/articles\/homeownership-young-adults-has-recovered-its-2010-level\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">25- to 34-year-olds<\/a> owned their homes in 2022-23, down from a peak of 59 percent in 2000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even some young Conservatives, like Olivia Lever, 24, said they felt forgotten in this current campaign. Ms. Lever, a founder of the University of Liverpool Young Conservatives and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bluebeyonduk.com\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">director of Blue Beyond<\/a>, a grass-roots group for young Tories, said there had been no effort to appeal to younger people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIn the Conservatives, for some time, there has been a gap between the younger members of the party and the older members of the party,\u201d she said. \u201cWith this election \u2014 where is the growth? Where is the house building? Where are the jobs? How are we inspiring and empowering people?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Lever said that many young people had become \u201ccompletely disenfranchised with politics because it is very older-people-centered,\u201d pointing to a recent survey her group did of young Tories that asked them to describe the current campaign. Many answered: \u201cBoomer-ist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On the other side of the political spectrum, young people who identify with the progressive left also described feeling disenfranchised. At the University of Liverpool, a small protest encampment against the conflict in Gaza sprang up last month, inspired by similar demonstrations in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Students and recent graduates there expressed frustration that Labour had not immediately called for a cease-fire or condemned Israel\u2019s actions. Aamor Crofts, 21, who is studying wildlife conservation and has been camped here since May, plans to cast her ballot for a Green or independent candidate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI don\u2019t see any major party that truly represents me,\u201d she said. Young people, she said, had been left to deal with the fallout from Brexit, economic troubles and skyrocketing house prices. \u201cThis isn\u2019t the country we want to inherit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/29\/world\/europe\/britain-young-voters.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the flag of a British workers union flapped behind him on a blustery June morning, Liam Kehoe was on strike with colleagues outside Royal Liverpool University Hospital, demanding better pay for porters, cleaners and catering staff. Their wages have failed to keep up with the surge in the cost of living, and many said [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/29\/multimedia\/29uk-election-youth-01-qzck\/29uk-election-youth-01-qzck-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3316,8243,643,5631,26162,3456,1723],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83790"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83792,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83790\/revisions\/83792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}