Millennial's: A politically unclaimed generation? (2000 word millennials article)

In 2014, Scottish Millennials went against their stereotype and rushed out to polling stations to have their say on Scottish Independence. The result of that referendum suggested that many young Scottish Millennials – particularly the 16 and 17-year-olds who were eligible to vote for the first time jumped at the chance to have their say on an issue that directly concerned them.

Whilst in Scotland, millennials were heavily involved in the final result of the independence debate, millennials across the rest of the country are seen to be less involved with politics as a whole.

Political participation from this generation is a lot like their fast-paced lifestyles in which nothing lasts for too long.

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, were born between the 1980’s and early 2000’s. They’re a new breed of generation; a well-educated, tech-savvy group of high achievers. Millennials have some very interesting traits that separate them from their generational predecessors, Generation X.

Research by YouGov revealed that millennials are “more open-minded than their parents on controversial topics”. This can be seen in the form of political protests, their free-spirit approach to self-expression and liberal attitude towards life. Millennials are the most ethnically and racially diverse group compared to previous generations. It's also argued that they are more educated and optimistic about the future than their predecessors. So why are so many detached from the political landscape?

A survey conducted on behalf of Sky News concluded that only 8% of people between the ages of 16 to 24 are fully engaged in the political process. During the poll listing the top party leaders, interviewees were asked: “which party leader they felt best exemplifies what is important in politicians?” A staggering 47% answered “none of the above”. Surely a worrying response for the leaders and current political parties.

So why are millennials so disengaged from politics in the first place? One view for those undecided voters whose political views are not set in stone is that they may feel that they are being ignored by the politicians.

A recent study by the Think Tank, Demos, reported that only 11% of the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet replied to tweets from twitter users. Alternatively, the lack of engagement lies with the Millennials. An article in Time Magazine branded millennials as the “Me, Me, Me generation.” Saying that they are narcissistic, overconfident, entitled and lazy.

Of course, not all millennials agree with this statement. James Moss, a 26-year-old engineer commented that “Sometimes I wonder if the media and government actually know millennials at all. The fact millennials are known as a lazy generation is laughable, on average, works 40 hours a week”.

He said: “I know so many people, millennials, in fact, who are hardworking and honest. It’s ridiculous that my generation has been labelled as entitled. We’re a generation fighting for our rights, using technology to our advantage in an ever-changing world. Obviously, I’m not surprised that our generation isn’t as involved in politics because MP’s haven’t made it easy for us to gain their trust over recent years as they’ve let us down on more than one occasion. Although I get involved in politics, I can see why some people choose to stay disconnected.”

A poll by Ipsos Mori, the UK’s leading research company, showed that all generations distrust politicians. However, when asked, “How would you vote if there were a general election tomorrow?” 12% of Millennials said they would not vote, the highest percentage across all of the generations. Some millennials are recognised as being fairly ignorant when it comes to politics, with the view that if their vote can’t influence change, then why make the effort to get informed.

Rhiannon Barton, 21, has never voted before and she can’t see herself voting anytime soon.

She said: “To put it simply, I don’t vote because I don’t see the point. I think politics is quite frankly boring. Of course, I keep up to date with the news and I do know what is going on in the world, but as soon as I see anything political online or on the TV I just ignore it. I don’t feel like the decisions politicians make directly affect me - not yet anyway. Until I know my vote will actually make a difference, I won’t be voting for anyone. Besides, all politicians are the same. They come from wealthy backgrounds and only seem to look out for themselves.”

The concern is that this form of apathy will continue and that in 20 years there will be a vast number of millennials that will still not engage with the electoral system. But will this really be the case for the Generation Y?

Catherine Tunney, 24, goes against the millennial stereotype because as she’s actively involved in her political party.

She said: “We’re completely misrepresented as a generation. I only know a small handful of people that don’t vote. Nearly everyone I’ve spoken to through university, work or as a volunteer is a voter. I know all my friends do. Maybe they’re not as actively involved in politics as I am, but that does not mean they’re disengaged or have no opinions. To be honest, I think it’s very difficult to be totally unaware of the political landscape nowadays because of the advances in technology and social media”.

Catherine and her friends are very well informed on the latest political agendas, which goes to show that not all Millennials are switched off from the political scene. With constant access to the 24-hour news cycle and the latest news constantly being shared across social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter it’s hard to stay tuned out of current affairs across the globe.

Over the years, the main political parties have been faced with the increasing challenge on how to get millennials engaged with the political landscape to secure additional support and ultimately votes for their party. Millennials demanded a new, fresh approach and appeared to be excited with the Liberal Democrat party leader, Nick Clegg. His fresh take on doing things differently - a new kind of politics, a new kind of country gathered support from millennials. However, this support for Clegg was weakened with the formation of the coalition with the traditional Conservatives. Across the Atlantic, millennials were some of Barack Obama’s biggest supporters and were attracted to his strong message of change. The message appears to be that millennials don’t want the status quo, and fresh views, approaches and ideas tend to be listened to.

During the UK 2015, general election millennials turned to the internet to share their thoughts and opinions on political issues. It was said to be the first ‘social media election’.

Social media has rapidly become a part of the natural fabric for a generation of people who are acknowledged for being especially hard to engage in the political process. Ipsos Mori discovered that an enormous 88% obtain their news from Facebook. With Seven in Ten people clicking on and regularly reading news stories. This is where millennials thrive because rather than just observing the news and political agenda, they use social media to share their opinions and views about the articles they read. This, in turn, has the potential to influence others who may still be undecided voters. The Pew Research Centre found that seven in ten Britons believe that social media platforms give a voice to people who would not normally take part in politics.

Political engagement is constantly evolving and now politicians are beginning to realise the opportunities on how to increase their contact with audiences through social media. Millennials have been informed by sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and barriers between the voters and politicians have started to be eroded. This form of media is allowing people to become more directly informed by leading politicians appearing on social media sites. Recently Ed Miliband, prior to the 2015 general election, appeared on the informal political talk show ‘The Trews’, presented and produced by the comedian and activist Russell Brand. The web show carries an underlining message throughout each episode, in that that change needs to happen to secure a bright future for the UK.

Liam Stewart, 21, a full-time university student made up his mind about who to vote for after watching ‘The Trews’.

He said: “I voted for Labour during the 2015 General Election. Originally I was going to vote for the Green Party, even though I knew they weren’t going to win. But, after watching ‘The Trews’ with Russell Brand, I decided to think a bit more logically and went for the next best option.”

Liam voted for Labour after being persuaded by Russell Brand’s call to “take decisive action to end the danger of the Conservative Party.”

“Anything to try and stop the Conservatives from getting into power again. It’s a shame Labour lost. I strongly despise what the Conservatives and David Cameron are doing to this country. It’s clear the gap in equality is getting worse, all you need to do is observe how many cuts there have been too vital public services that my family, friends and I rely on. I will be voting in 2020 for Corbyn, who seems to be the only one talking sense. Hopefully, he will bring us a brighter future.”

Jeremy Corbyn became the elected leader of the Labour Party in 2015, after winning a landslide victory in Labour’s leadership contest. His back to basics, heavily left-wing approach to politics has given millennials a genuine alternative to “mainstream politicians”. Backed by high profile activists (like Russell Brand) he caught the imagination of millennials ready for a social change. Traditionally more socially liberal parties share a more optimistic stance on politics, so instead of focusing on the past, it allows millennials to focus on what the future has to offer.

In an interview with CNBC, Corbyn said: “I am proud to call myself a socialist”. A poll by Reason Magazine found that many millennials describe themselves as social liberals, in line with Jeremy Corbyn’s political stance. Similar research from the United States suggests this is also true of their fellow American millennials who equally support more socially liberal policies such as, same-sex marriage and the legalisation of marijuana. Although many millennials agree with Jeremy Corbyn's political ideologies, the majority of them can’t actually define the term socialist and is defining the term important.

Author David Bernstein describes the Millennials’ approach to social change as “pragmatic idealism” in his book, Fast Future.

He says: “Millennials have a deep desire to make the world a better place combined with an understanding that doing so requires building new institutions whilst working inside and outside existing institutions.”

It’s clear to see traditional ideological labels don’t truly represent the millennial generation. Millennials and previous generations all have one thing in common; there are those that vote and are passionately involved with politics and there are also those who don't vote and aren’t really interested in how the country is governed. For the first time ever, the development of social media is no longer allowing millennials to be ignorant of the political landscape. Generation Y has established a new way of educating themselves with politics, regardless of whether they want to be educated or not.

Will the old certainties of the past - where the vast majority of the electorate vote according to their socio-economic status - remain true as millennials become a more significant proportion of the vote? If political parties continue to focus their attention on interacting with potential voters through social media sites this could halt the decline in political engagement and win the votes of politically unaffiliated millennials across the country.