Rebecca Canton
September
We assume young people generally vote left and for green initiatives. They care for climate change, sexual liberation and free healthcare. Any young person who votes for the right is an anomaly, right?
While historically such stereotypes may have held truth, the right wing throughout Europe is seeing unprecedented gains, especially from a younger demographic. In the 2023 general election in the Netherlands, the Party for Freedom, a nationalist right-wing party led by populist Geert Wilders, won 35 seats, a landslide victory. Likewise, in Germany the anti-immigration party, Alternative for Germany, won almost a third of the vote in the eastern German state of Thuringia. This political success of right-wing and far-right movements is not limited to these two countries; Italy, Finland, Hungary, to name a few, have “hard-right” governments. What is unusual for European governments is the age of the voters that support them. For example, Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing populist party, Brothers of Italy, was the most popular party among under-35s. The future generation seems to be turning their backs on their traditional parties, changing the political landscape of Europe.
The United Kingdom is technically an exception to Europe’s swing towards the right. The social democratic Labour party, led by Sir Keir Starmer, defeated the Conservative party—the Tories—in the 2024 general election for the first time since 2005. This victory for the left was supported by young people, with a YouGov poll postulating that 41% of 18 to 24 year olds voted Labour. However, despite these statistics, it does not mean the United Kingdom is moving opposite to the rest of Europe. Starmer has been accused of ‘purging’ the Labour party, by prioritizing Tory votes with fiscally conservative policies. Further, another YouGov poll found that 48% of Labour voters backed Labour simply in opposition to the Conservative party. This negative cohesion perhaps does not represent true sentiments and political leanings of citizens; it also does not mean the U.K. is immune to the wave of right-wing mania sweeping Europe.
On July 29, 2024, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in Southport, Merseyside, U.K., three children were fatally stabbed. Ten others were injured by 17-year-old British citizen Axel Rudakubana. Initially, no information about the attacker was released by police, and the platform “X” and other social media immediately labeled the attacker as Ali Al-Shakati, a Muslim immigrant, regardless of the fact that Rudakubana was born in Cardiff and had no established connections to Islam. On July 30, 2024, far-right protesters clashed with police in Southport, damaging a Mosque, especially due to the misinformation spread on social media platforms. In the following week, multiple towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland were swept up in riots and disorder, including arson, looting and racist attacks, in what was the largest occasion of social unrest in England since 2011. The disturbance marks a disturbing escalation in the far-right sentiment in the U.K., highlighting deep-rooted issues within the country concerning immigration and political polarization. What is particularly concerning is not just the number of rioters—1,280 individual arrests—but also the age of those involved. Stageringly, 72 of arrests made were against those under 18, with children as young as 12 having pleaded guilty to violent disorder in relation to the riots.
The far-right is not a new political movement to the U.K. with one of the first examples of facism, the British Fascisti, founded in 1923. he modern rise of extremism has links to right-wing media, with a number of riots organized through Telegram, specifically a channel called “Southport Wake Up.” The Southport riots in July and August, combined with the general increase in youth extremism, have been heavily centered around online radicalization, which has been exacerbated by the rhetoric of public media figures. One notable figure is Nigel Farage, a recently elected member of parliament and the leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK party, the third largest party by popular vote. Farage uses platforms accessible to young people e.g., TikTok—where he has almost 1 million followers—to spread his beliefs more effectively. Creators like Farage produce content of genuine social grievances, mixed with right wing conspiracy theories that resonate with many young people disillusioned by current governments. For example, he likened the landing of child migrants in Kent to an ‘invasion’, thus creating an “us vs them” mentality, a mindset adopted by the right-wing who tend to blame economic and social problems on migration. Farage is not alone in the group of far-right influencers; figures like Paul Joseph Watson, a right-wing YouTuber with 2 million subscribers, use casual language and memes within their videos, which is specifically catered towards younger audiences through ‘Gen-Z’ references, thus amassing a younger following. Whether the media itself is to blame for violence is difficult to determine. What is not irrational is the fact that social media has provided a bridge between the far-right and youth, a bond that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.
Despite the influence of far-right figures, would the media and influencers be able to convince young people to vote right if they weren’t already disenchanted by their government? The U.K. currently faces some severe challenges to the nation’s stability. Although the U.K. came out of recession in 2021, the prevailing cost-of-living crisis affects a vast majority of the population. People cannot heat their homes, feed their families, or pay off their mortgages. Young people simply cannot afford to join the housing market. A lot of young voters do not agree with the core ideologies of the right or the far-right, but their general consensus is the same: they have been largely disregarded by the governments that preceded them. While a vast majority of voters have turned left and towards Labour, the right has placed blame on easy targets for everyday problems. Immigration has been a controversial issue in the country since the Windrush generation where Caribbean people migrated following World War II, after the British government encouraged immigration from Commonwealth countries due to losses suffered in the war. Immigrants themselves have been blamed by multiple public figures, including Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary in 2022. Condemning the concept of “others” divides the country, promoting hate and violence. The issue, as with most sensitive topics, is that it is a slippery slope and the pipeline from being disappointed with the government to right-wing radicalism is real and dangerous.
It is now up to the new Labour government, a government not associated with the previous government’s failings, to close the gap between those on opposing ends of the political spectrum for both social cohesion and peace. The question remains as to how, with an answer emerging unlikely. Young people are more susceptible to online conspiracies, and until migration is not blamed for social problems, tensions are likely to continue. How can the government appease and convince the left that they stand for values of inclusion and harmony while not allowing the country to fall to right-wing violence? Is there really an answer to this pressing question?