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Youthquake 2017: why age, not class, will define how people vote

Age has replaced class as the best predictor of voting intentions and cosmopolitan views have a growing influence on Millennials, according to a new book which investigates the youthquake of the 2017 election. The situation in the UK is contrasted with developments in youth participation in other established democracies, including the youthquakes inspired by Obama in the US (2008) and Trudeau in Canada (2015).

    Young girl in a crown
    The 2017 election saw the highest rate of youth turnout in a quarter of a century

    Youthquake 2017 - The Rise of Young Cosmopolitans in Britain, by and Professor Matt Henn, Professor of Social Research at Nottingham Trent University, and Dr James Sloam, Reader in politics at Royal Holloway University, accounts for this landmark election, which saw the highest rate of youth turnout in a quarter of a century and an unprecedented gap in youth support for Labour over the Conservative Party, from both a comparative and a theoretical perspective.

    The idea of a youthquake in the 2017 election has been questioned in some quarters, but Dr James Sloan said: “Beyond the narrow issue of electoral turnout, it is clear that the 2017 General Election led to step-change in youth political participation, as young people turned in droves to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party and engaged more broadly in the political debate: from Glastonbury, to online discussions, to campaigning on the doorstep”.

    Commenting on why the UK seemed to have witnessed this youthquake, Professor Matt Henn noted that: “Evidence suggests that in recent decades, young people have felt increasingly disenchanted by the political elite. However, all that changed at the 2017 UK General Election, with the nation’s youth especially attracted by the anti-austerity and youth-friendly policies of many of the parties, as well as the grass-roots and welcoming campaign style of the Labour Party in particular”.

    Examining the participation of 18–24 year olds in the UK they find that the overwhelming majority can be described as ‘cosmopolitans’ – they are favourable towards European integration (strong Remain supporters in the 2016 EU referendum) and cultural diversity, and relaxed about immigration – in stark contrast to older generations.

    In many other countries – from the United States to Brazil – young people are also the group that is most resistant to right-wing populism. Young cosmopolitans in the UK also favour left-leaning policies that aim to mitigate the impact of the austerity in areas such as housing, the NHS, and university tuition fees.

    The book concludes that continued prominence of these values will amongst young people will have significant implications for long-term voting patterns and governance in Britain, as more socially liberal young citizens replace their conservative elders and demand greater intergenerational fairness in public policy.

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      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2017 at the Times Higher Education Awards, and Modern University of the Year in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.

      NTU has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available.

      NTU is one of the largest UK universities. With 30,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. It is one of the UK’s most environmentally friendly universities, containing some of the sector’s most inspiring and efficient award-winning buildings. 96% of its graduates go on to employment or further education within six months of leaving.

      Our student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 88% satisfaction score in the 2018 National Student Satisfaction Survey.

      The University is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable Nottingham Trent to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

      NTU is home to world-class research, and won The Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2015 – the highest national honour for a UK university. It recognised the University’s pioneering projects to improve weapons and explosives detection in luggage; enable safer production of powdered infant formula; and combat food fraud.

      With an international student population of over 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook.

    Published on 13 November 2018
    • Category: Press office; School of Social Sciences