The first time I voted in 2015 I was a 20-years old. I was, then, a Labour supporter, studying politics at university, living in a majority Tory constituency. I knew my vote had little meaning there, but I voted Labour anyway, without bothering to check who the second majority was or if I could swing the vote away from the Tories.
Despite having been a student of politics for over a year at this point, I was still intimidated by campaign debates. I’d had six months of political discussions on television to prepare me and each party had been outlining their policies for almost a year running up to the vote, yet I was still unsure of what I was voting for. So, when the snap election was announced, and it became apparent that every 18-19-year-old would be voting for the first time three years ahead of schedule, I thought to myself ‘shit, they only have six weeks of campaigning, how the hell are they meant to understand what they’re voting for?’
There are 18-20-year-olds who weren't able to vote in the 2015 election and weren't expecting to be able to vote until 2020. And since political education still isn't a compulsory part of most school curriculum's, they're being thrown into the decision blind. There are also people who weren't 18 on polling day last summer and therefore didn't get a say in the EU referendum, who'll be able to vote come June 8th. The timing of this snap election, in the wake of the EU referendum at a time when Labour have been experiencing well-documented inner turmoil, means only one thing: the Tories are going to win unless the youth register to vote and tactically vote their arses off. But without the time to form a real opposition campaign, how can we expect young voters to actually understand the policies of each party? Hell, how are we all meant to understand the policies of each party?
It’s a concern for many young voters. Miranda Smith is an 18-year-old student from London:
‘I have a lot of friends who don't know much about UK politics and are quite disconnected with the political system so the fact that they suddenly have to decide who to vote for in such a short time is quite difficult. In that sense, I think a normal length election would be useful to first-time voters in giving them more time to consider’
Not only does it seem unfair that opposition parties only have a short amount of time to rally votes, but it also seems undemocratic to force first-time voters to make a rash decision about their future. Of course, the short campaign could serve as a push to encourage more young people to engage with politics, which Lois Worrow, a 19-year-old student at the University of Essex agrees with:
‘I will be taking more notice of developments that go on over the course of the campaigns because any changes that happen at this stage could have a huge impact on the way I vote. There's also a slight sense of urgency due it being such a short amount of time before the election, we need to find out as much as possible in order to vote with confidence.’
For the politically engaged youth, this is all well and good. But for the many young people who find it difficult to understand politics, it’s hard to believe that this election will be the one that forces them to register. In the Brexit referendum, 36% of young people chose not to vote, despite having a year of political parties hammering home what leaving the EU would mean for their future. This election is the chance for more young voters to have their say, but with only six weeks for parties to simplify complex policies and help them understand their choice, the circumstances under which they must make their decision are far from ideal.
Another major roadblock? This election has come smack bang in the middle of exam period. Search ‘election during exam’ on Twitter and there are tweets upon tweets of people complaining at the suspicious timing of the election.
Not only that, Muslim voters are also taking part in Ramadan during the election, making campaigning even more difficult for them. Of course, young voters can register for a postal vote and take time out of revision to keep up with politics, but the biggest question- and one for all of us, young or old- is will they vote tactfully?
The same day the election was announced, a Google Doc explaining tactical voting went viral, as people began to realise it may be the only way to make their vote count this June. The young people I spoke to were undecided, stating it would feel ‘unnatural’ to vote for someone they didn’t totally believe in or that they don’t fully understand how it works. Of course, I was that same person when I first voted, and only two years later I’m already a cynical old fart wondering if my vote even matters.
Political disillusionment after Brexit is no surprise after all 48% of voters saw their choice go up in flames. So maybe we should be hopeful first-time voters are still optimistic about their vote? It’s certainly an opportunity for politicians to rally more supporters, but are they doing enough to engage with the youth vote? Not according to Austen Clark, a 19-year-old student:
‘Politicians don’t focus on the young at all so why should we vote if it won’t benefit us or others in the long term.’ Miranda agrees:
‘A lot of people my age who have never voted before don't know which party appeals to them the most. I think more could definitely be done to engage the youth vote and there are so many ways they could, through social media for example’ Social media is a powerful tool for engagement, as is evidenced by the power of memes to make a laughing stock of a politician. And if followers decided the outcome of the general election, Labour would win by a landslide. Their Twitter following is by far the largest, as are their Facebook likes. But then again, young people aren’t on Twitter or Facebook anymore. Where are they? Instagram and Snapchat of course.
Social media is a powerful tool for engagement, as is evidenced by the power of memes to make a laughing stock of a politician. And, if followers decided the outcome of the general election, Labour would win by a landslide. Their Twitter following is by far the largest, as are their Facebook likes. But then again, young people aren’t on Twitter or Facebook anymore. Where are they? Instagram and Snapchat of course. While Jeremy Corbyn is super active on both Insta and Snapchat, and Tim Farron can be found on Snapchat, none of the UK political parties have official accounts. Indeed, there are multiple Labour accounts but it's not clear which one is official and the account which has the most followers hasn't posted since 2015. The Lib Dems, however, are very active but have very small followers by most millennial's standards (just over a thousand, cue gritted teeth emoji).
Ever seen an 18-year-old without their phone in their hand? Me neither, proving the theory: political parties are missing a trick here. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed by first-time voters, Lois said:
‘Party leaders have a fairly large social media presence, MPs often less so. In a time where having a social profile is almost necessary, it's still important that they can interact with student voters and young people effectively. Students, in particular, take a huge amount of notice regarding the online presence of politicians and people in positions of power so I think it's important for them to tap into that to engage a wider audience.’
So, is upping their social media game the answer to snap election woes? I could see a real boost in youth engagement if parties had featured stories on Snapchat where they explained complex policies in a 10-second snaps, or if Tim Farron explained the Lib Dems will get us out of Brexit in an Insta story (wow, what an amazing strategy, am I Olivia Pope?).
Politicians represent the people once elected and when running for office they're pitching to represent us. They appear on news programmes and give interviews to newspapers but it's no secret that newspaper circulation has been falling for nearly a decade and flagship news programmes are also seeing their viewing figures decline too. Meanwhile, young people are going online to websites like this via social media to consume information. The way we consume information has fundamentally changed in recent years, mainstream politics has yet to catch up.
One thing is for sure, first-time voters are an untapped and, as yet, un-jaded resource ready to be rallied. And with time running out to engage the youth, it’s high time more politicians gave them the political education they miss out on in school via their favourite apps. Politicians shouldn't ignore young people and need to speak to future generations as well as their core vote: pensioners who still watch the news. After all, a vote from someone aged 18-24 or 25-30 should not be less valuable than someone in their 40s, 50s or 60s after, we’re citizens too.
You might also be interested in:
Here Are All The Places Where The Women's Equality Party Are Standing In The General Election 2017
Follow Georgia on Twitter @GeorgiaAspinall
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.