Young People are Feeling Misrepresented by MP's ahead of UK's General Election

Young people are becoming increasingly concerned about the future of British politics, as students feel misrepresented by the major party leaders.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said in January that he will call for a general election in the second half of 2024, however after recent voting intention polls recorded by Statistica, the initially predicted Labour landslide victory seems to be slipping away as the figures have steadily dropped since October, suggesting that the Labour party’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict has majorly influenced public opinion. 

Since the pandemic, the British people have felt betrayed and lied to by the Conservative Party, from Partygate, to contract scandals between Tory donors and cabinet members, it was looking as though Labour would have an easy win in the next election. Until October when ex-human rights lawyer and Labour leader Keir Starmer took a stance for Israel and their genocidal government, receiving major backlash from the British people, and other Labour MP’s who have been warned against being vocally supportive of a ceasefire, by the party leader.  

First-year psychology student at Kingston University, Ellie Blackburn said: “I’m scared. No party actually represents anything I want or stand for, I never know which party to trust. I’m worried for the future of this country; we are not stable. Children are starving and we are spending money on wars instead.”

Frustration seems to be the number one feeling amongst young people, “I have no hope left in our electoral system, whichever of the viable options I choose won’t fix the very prominent systemic issues in our political system,” said Evie Turner, a second-year international relations student at the University of Leicester. With another student at the University of Aberdeen explaining how “there's realistically no point because all parties are just as corrupt as each other.”

Alix, a third year Zoology student at Swansea University said:

For many students, this will be their first time voting in a general election, and the consensus seems rather bleak.