Starmer is playing with fire by giving votes to 16-year-olds - he could be handing Reform the keys to No10
2 July 2024, 19:37
The Tories know they’re on the brink.
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For the past six weeks, the Conservatives been warning that giving 16-year-olds the vote, as Sir Keir Starmer plans to if he wins the election, will “keep Labour in power for a generation”.
While some of the most senior ministers manage to sound relatively calm when spouting these lines, when you actually read the transcript of what they are saying, the sense of panic is palpable.
Indeed, that is what the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, told my colleague Nick Ferrari earlier this week.
“We also recognise that the Labour Party have said publicly that they’re going to pack out the House of Lords, they’re going to give votes at 16, they’re probably going to give votes to foreign nationals, probably going to give votes to people in prison,” Mr Cleverly claimed.
“They want to permanently change the way our democracy works and make sure they have a permanent Labour government,” he added.
This, coupled with social media adverts which suggest Labour are going to “rig the system” to keep themselves in power, suggests the Tories know they are likely to lose, and lose so badly they will be out of office for a very long time.
If this were say, 2010, the Tories’ fears about Labour being in power for generation would not be unfounded.
After all, everyone knows it is generally in the DNA of young people to be more left-wing, evidenced in a study carried out by the National Centre for Social Research last year.
But given the increasing popularity of the far-right across Europe, particularly among younger men, it is clear the link between the youth and left-wing ideology can be broken.
And given the likely Labour victory we are about to witness in Thursday's General Election, it is not unwise to start looking ahead to how one of Starmer's most controversial policies could lay the groundwork for a surging Reform UK party.
There is a lot of guesswork involved this scenario, but do stick with me.
Labour are going to inherit a mess. Not just an economic mess, but one centred around the lack of public confidence in politicians and their ability to affect change.
There has always been some degree of apathy in Britain during election periods.
However, in 2024, it feels increasingly strong, given that Starmer appears on the brink of a record-breaking majority despite being relatively unpopular compared to former leaders of the opposition.
While Labour have set out some bold plans to fix issues in the country, including by reforming the NHS and the planning system, it is not controversial to suggest the Starmer project will be incredibly difficult to execute.
Planning reforms are going to be much more difficult than he imagines. Labour will also make enemies as they attempt to reform longstanding institutions such as the NHS.
Even if Labour are successful in what they want to do, their project will not be complete for ten years. Starmer has admitted as such, saying he wants to be PM until the age of 71 in order to oversee a "decade of national renewal".
But let’s say they are not half as successful as they like - all these 16-year-olds, who are perennially glued to TikTok, will turn 21 in time for the next election.
By then, following's Starmer's decision to lower the voting age, there will also be a fresh wave of 16-17-year-olds ready to vote for the first time.
Just think about it, these are kids are just 11 and 12 now. They are also likely to be just as addicted to TikTok as they grow up, making them targets for political parties seeking to indoctrinate their future voting base.
That leaves the door open for Nigel Farage's Reform UK - a party which many would consider to be incredibly right-wing - to sweep in and convince the youth that they are the answer to Starmer's mediocre, technocratic government.
After all, that’s what happening across Europe, isn't it?
Look at Jordan Bardella, President of the far-right National Rally in France. The youth love him. He’s charismatic, knows how to communicate and uses TikTok to his advantage. He also happens to be on the brink of becoming the Prime Minister in France.
But the key point is, this trend is not only happening in France, or other European nations, it is a trend already starting to take hold here at home.
A recent poll by JLP Partners put Labour on 39 per cent of the vote if 16-17-year-olds could vote today.
Guess who's in second place? That's right, Reform UK.
What's more striking is that if you isolate the figures to only consider young men, Labour and Reform UK are neck-and-neck on 35 per cent, with females on just 12 per cent.
Reform UK are also the second most popular party in the country for those aged between 18 and 25, who can already vote.
This should worry Sir Keir - and the Tories, who face possible extinction if Reform UK becomes the main political force in right-wing politics after the next election.
But it should also worry the country.
After all, Reform UK candidates and canvassers have been plagued by a series of racial allegations, including one who called Rishi Sunak a f****** p***.
Three candidates have been suspended so far, while two more have abandoned their campaigns entirely before defecting to the Tories.
It is not isolated to candidates, either. Nigel Farage recently came under fire about suggesting a group of young Muslim men do not adhere to British values and regularly bemoans the ‘invasion’ of immigrants.
It is not dissimilar to language used by Mr Bardella and the National Rally in France.
Whether we like it or not, this language is appealing to the young boys and men of today, many of which have already turned to the likes of the vile misogynist Andrew Tate for inspiration.
So if Starmer’s government fails to deliver, all whilst handing the vote to 16-year-olds, the political landscape of this country could change forever. And not for the better.
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